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Updated, 17:28
GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel has firmly ruled out any prospect of the new permanent Eurozone bailout fund helping to recapitalise banks which have already received aid from their respective governments – possibly including Ireland’s.
Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of EU heads of government in Brussels, Merkel echoed comments from other leaders saying it would take time for a new permanent European banking supervisor to be set up.
This is seen as a precondition of the permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), being able to directly recapitalise banks – a matter which has direct importance for Spain, which may find its banks needing aid before the new supervisory can be set up.
Asked about whether Spain would be able to get money back from the ESM if the supervisor wasn’t set up in time, Merkel flatly insisted: ”It will not be a retroactive direct capitalisation.”
The chancellor added: “If recapitalisation is possible, it will come for the future. If the banking supervision is in place, we no longer have any problems with the Spanish banks.
“At least, that is my hope,” she said.
Though the answer related directly to Spain – and can also be taken in the context of Merkel having to go before German voters next September – it bodes badly for Ireland, which was hoping to have the ESM give retrospective aid for Ireland’s banks.
Ireland’s hopes were that the arrangement in Spain, where the ESM will recapitalise banks directly instead of lending money to the government to do so itself, could be replicated retrospectively for Ireland.
Now, with Merkel even questioning whether such an arrangement can be used for Spain, the prospect that Ireland’s state aid could be replaced with ESM funding appears to have taken a significant dent.
In a statement the Irish government said it understood Merkel’s comments came in response to “a direct question about the recapitalisation of Spanish banks”, and that she had replied in that context.
Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said the focus of Ireland’s hopes had always been to sell its stake in the banks to the ESM, rather than recapitalising, which was now in the past and could not be revisited.
Merkel had welcomed the decision of EU leaders to set up the legal framework for a so-called ‘Single Supervisory Mechanism’, a new pan-European banking regulator, by January 2013 – but warned that it could take some time for the regulator to be set up.
The German leader said it should first be agreed that the ECB was not equipped to act as a reliable regulator itself, and then the appropriate staff would have to be recruited. “It’s not even on the horizon for the time being,” she said, referring to the regulator coming into effect.
Merkel had earlier told reporters that German was in favour of the creation of some sort of solidarity fund for Eurozone coutnries, but again appeared to pooh-pooh the idea of so-called “Eurobonds” – a bond issued jointly by all Eurozone nations rather than individual countries.
“I think that mutualisation of liabilities – as long as we have national budgets – is not the appropriate answer,” she said. “This is not something we would be able to support.”
At a press conference taking place at the same time, Enda Kenny described the two-day summit as a positive one – saying the statement issued by participants affirmed the desire to “break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns”.
“We have a clear timeframe now for the putting in place of a legal framework in which the operation and the mechanics for the recapitalisation of banks can take place,” Kenny said.
“You cannot do anything about this until you have a legal framework in place.”
Kenny added:
The credibility of the Eurozone Union and the Eurozone rests on the capacity and the willingness, and indeed the courage, of its leaders to flow through on the decisions that are made and to be seen to follow through.That’s what leadership is all about – the different between the concept of an idea and the translation of that into reality.
Asked about the criteria under which ESM funds could be injected into banks, Kenny said this was now a matter for the Eurogroup, the meeting of 17 Eurozone finance ministers, who will now be asked to hammer out a deal on how the new banking regulator can work.
Opposition parties in Ireland slammed the government for its positivity on the outcome of the summit, with Sinn Féin describing Merkel’s comment as “a Judas kiss” while Fianna Fáil describing the comments as proof of how little progress had been made in seeking a deal for Ireland’s benefit.
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This ‘banned list’ thing is rubbish, all dogs no matter which breed has the potential to attack – when are we going to learn it’s how they are treated & brought up. Surely if there were concerns that this dog was dangerous (no matter what breed) it should not have been returned to be allowed to roam free.
Obviously that dog knew nothing but violence and misery. His owner is the murderer. B@$tard.
Problem is there are too many of these dangerous terrier-type dogs around. What is wrong with getting a poodle, a schnauzer, or a flipping cockapoo? Too many people feel they need the Pitt on the leash and they can’t handle them.
The type of owner these dogs attract is the problem.
The actual problem some dog owners have a lower IQ than the dog and these people seam to be attracted to dogs which have a higher tendency if mistreated to be aggressive.
*seem
all other things being equal, some dogs do have a greater propensity for attacking people / other dogs
The list doesn’t work perfectly because it’s a rigid & cheap way to deal with the problem. Instead of a simple ban list, dogs should have their breed and behaviour profiled by a specialist whenever someone makes a report. But even this isn’t perfect. Some dogs will attack before a report can be made.
This idea that we should forget about breed entirely is silly though. There are certain dog breeds more prone to and more capable of causing great harm to humans and this should be considered as part of the specialist profiling I mentioned. It’s never going to be perfect, so why ignore breed if it makes profiling more accurate?
True. Breed is number 1 to look out for. A bull mastiff can kill a child vs a miniature schnauzer who can merely lick the child. Before the pro-pitties shoot me down, I will confess that not all terrier, Doberman and Alsatian types are dangerous.
What we need in Britain is the return of dog licensing. At the end of the day, as a dog owner you’re responsible for a sharp-toothed mammal which is not properly accountable for its own actions or capable of understanding human laws. Scrapping the dog licence – yet another short-sighted boo boo legacy from Thatcher’s time in office.
Keep your dog on a leash. It’s the law!
Well said!
I can’t imagine what he went through in his last moments on this earth..Rip..
It’s being reported that someone threw him a knife but being a dog lover he refused to use it.
He fell into unconsciousness while the dog was still savaging him. Police who arrived on the scene used a fire extinguisher to make the dog back off.
What the hell was the 29 year owner doing? He should be done for manslaughter…might make some of those degenerates think twice before ill-treating dogs to the point that they are ready to kill. Not so amusing now, is it. Poor, poor gentleman and his little companion… Very sad.
Throw the owner in a dog pit.
See how he likes that.
Simple!! Ban all dogs they serve no purpose, except for the exceptional dogs that are trained to find bombs and help blind people
Max i cannot imagine that being popular
Jesus this is horrific! I can’t even imagine it, the thought he had of just taking his own friend for a walk, who probably didn’t make it either. Tragic.
The problem with this type of dog is the specialised management the breed needs, a lot of the time those who are buying these dogs are buying them for the look of them!, it is nonsense to state any dog has the propensity to to do this damage, I have a chihuahua and a little Pom mix and neither would be capable of this, as neither would a lot of breeds, even if a breed is capable of this it would take a dog that has been very badly treated to behave in this savage manner, the dog should never have been returned to his owner if there was any doubt regarding the dog’s welfare or public safety, poor man died trying to save his little companion, very sad…..
They hold on to dogs, for months if not years, who have no behavioral issues and are much loved family pets, and then they return this one to his owner. How about getting rid of this useless legislation and replacing it with Owner Specific or Dangerous Owner Legislation. It’s the idiot people who are the real problem.
You guys shouldn’t have dogs. They are animals plain and simple. Pack animals with great senses which.makes them usefull to us. No matter what an owner does and doesn’t do all dogs have this in them and will attack smaller animals asserting there dominance. If you don’t believe this and are snuggling up to your “best friend” your an idiot and shouldn’t have one. Grown men and women acting like children with there dogs is wrong and the animal will think it is the alfa male not you.
Looked like a pit bull, behaved like a vicious pit bull and killed a human being.
Some dogs, if they turn vicious, have the capacity to use powerful jaws to kill human beings. The issue is capacity to kill. Other breeds of dog may turn vicious, due to maltreatment, but will only injure you, not kill you.
I was on a bicycle at 21 years of age and was savaged by German Shepherd, which sudden,y attacked me. I still have scars on my thighs and calves. I used the bicycle to fend off and then to hit the dog as the owner, a young lad threatened me and tried to hit me.
The young owner and his parents then reported me to the Garda Siochana for an unprovoked attack on the dog but it turned out that the dog was the subject of previous complaints. The Guards told me that they could persuade the family to drop the charges if I dropped any complaint. The dog caused havoc locally until it suddenly disappeared.
Jaw strength is the primary lethal factor. Most dogs are wonderful and, despite the one bad experience, I love dogs and don’t feel nervous of them.
Had it been a pit bull or a pit bull type dig with super jaw strength I would likely have been killed, not scarred.
Wow, sounds bad.
Imagine having that lot as neighbours.
These idiots complained against YOU? Freakin world’s gone mad
All these so called do-gooder and animal lovers better take heed of this story and don’t be so quick to prevent a suspected dangerous dog from being put down.I have a small Westoe dog and it is worrying when you see a huge breed of dog coming towards you with some dope who’s supposed to have it muzzled and on a lead. There needs to be more done to make sure the owners comply with the rules.
Totally agree
Thuggish people like thuggish dogs.
The dog was NOT a banned breed, therefore this law is rubbish and the 29 year old should go to prison and never ever be own an animal and be kept in captivity all his life
Yep and the idiots who let this dog go back to its owner have a vicious horrible death on their hands.
I’m for castrating and muzzling LOTS of breeds AND dogs with obvious behavioural problems.
No human life is worth it
The usual crazies will be on here saying its not the breed, its the owner…..poor fella. All large attack dogs should be on a muzzle, period.
These “crazies” watch too much of that clown Milan. All dogs are dangerous on some level. They all have this in them they are pack animals and will attack smaller dogs if they feel like it. They also will turn on anyone who tries and stops them if they fly in to a rage. If you don’t believe this or don’t think dogs are simply animals you shouldn’t have one.
Large and dangerous dogs shouldn’t be bred. Simple as that. All this nonsense about lists and how owners treat them just muddies the obvious reality. They’re unpredictable animals who could rip a child’s face off and we put up with them living beside us? RIP to that poor man too, as good as eaten alive on the street
R.I.P. I’m a dog lover but in that situation, given a knife, I’d have no hesitation in using it.
Calling for all dogs to be banned ffs. Why do I have to live in the same country as these morons. No wonder we live in a sad little nanny state. These gobshiites are actually allowed to vote. The same fools who want cigarette machines banned thinking that no one will smoke anymore. A country full of gobshiites I tell you.
While I agree that larger breeds of dogs can do more damage, I do think that BSL is completely pointless. It’s idiotic to think that a pitbull, Staffie or German Shepard etc can do any more damage than a labrador, golden retriever, Boxer or any other dog of the same size and weight. Any large dog has the potential to be dangerous with the wrong owners so targeting a small selection is ineffective and there’s plenty of research out there to back it up. In fact the degenerates our society are probably more attracted to owning ‘restricted breeds’.
My heart goes out to this poor man and his family. What a horrific tragedy. RIP
Such a well written post. Yes. And tragic
Don’t look at the dog, look at the owner.
Man killed by dog. Not by dog’s idiot owner.
Muzzle these large vicious attack dogs ( who cares what the breed is) or euthanasia.
And a bit of law enforcement would be welcome
It was very foolish of him sacrificing his life to save his dog. The second the pit bull attacked his dog he should have run for the hills. Now look at the result he’s dead and his dog is alive. I’m sure that’s no comfort to his family. A human life is way more precious than an animal’s. All dogs should be banned. They are all dangerous on some level.
@Amy, spoken like a true animal lover!, that little dog was his companion that he loved enough to try to save, no one to blame here but the dog’s obvious negligent owner and the authorities who released the dog back into his care, I personally could never live in a world without dogs!
I wouldn’t fo as far aa banning all dogs but definitely would agree that all dogs are dangerous on some level. They are animals and can lose it at anytime no.matter what the owner does. With a jack russel you can kick it off with a Pit Bull your dead. Obviously the pokice didn’t see a danger until it was too late. The dog attacked a smaller dog this is what they do and turned on the guy again all dogs have this in them.
Almost every dog authority (and we’re not talking shelters, pounds or a random vet) agrees it’s not about a particular breed. That notion is totally debunked. In different areas it’s different breeds. From collies and terriers in Irelands to staffies in other countries. In Sweden they use German Shepherds in their ads for “bring your dog to the store”. Some places haev removed problem breeds from areas and seen an INCREASE in bites. Policy must not be focused on “problem breeds”. I wrote a piece on how redundant the idea of the goverments recent proposal for “dangerous breed” signs” in dog parks was (https://www.facebook.com/DogsFirstIreland/photos/a.396088297121219.90023.154235037973214/1121008684629173/?type=3&theater). It was well received. Check out the references at the bottom of this article for major groups that stipulate it is not about particular breeds, and the references are not a random shelter but include authorities like The National Canine Research Centre, National Animal Control Assoc, American Bar Assoc., American Kennel Club, American Veterinary Assoc etc, even the White House! http://www.dogsfirst.ie/dog-bites-continued/
R i p
Poor guy and poor family whoever was in charge of decision to return this animal should also be held responsible
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