Minister Michael Noonan warns:
‘ECB threat letter on bailout will be released’
Trichet ultimatum that forced Ireland into bailout left BRIAN LENIHAN with ‘no option’ says Noonan
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said a secret “threatening” letter from the European Central Bank to his predecessor Brian Lenihan, which forced Ireland into the troika bailout in 2010, should now be released.
The letter has to date remained top secret and both theDepartment of Finance and the ECB have repeatedly refused to make it public.
Now Mr Noonan has said he favours it being made available, putting him on a potential collision course with the ECB, which is adamant that it remain “strictly confidential”.
The controversial letter from the then ECB president Jean Claude Trichet to Mr Lenihan dated November 19, 2010, is said to have threatened the withdrawal of emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Ireland if the then government refused to accept the bailout, that included a ban on burning bondholders.
In the past two weeks, there has been growing pressure from within the Government, the opposition and leading economists to have his department release the contents of the letter.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Independent yesterday, Mr Noonan said that he had seen the “very direct” letter which left Mr Lenihan with “little or no option” but to admit defeat and lead Ireland into the €85bn troika programme.
It is now beyond doubt that Mr Lenihan was threatened directly by Mr Trichet, and that Ireland was bounced into the troika programme by unelected officials at the ECB.
Mr Noonan said he had no authority to order the release of the letter, given the decision of the Freedom of Information unit in his department to withhold it.
“The FoI unit is totally separate from the political side of the department, and it was decided that this letter was not releasable.”
But Mr Noonan, who returns to his office on Monday from his holidays, has said that the letter should be made available to whatever banking inquiry is established by the Government in the coming months.
“The banking inquiry that has been signalled to me seems like an appropriate place to release this letter, which I’m sure would be very helpful to it,” Mr Noonan said.
Since he has taken office, Mr Noonan has repeatedly spoken of Mr Trichet’s politeness, but said yesterday that there was never any movement from him on the issue of burning bondholders.
Mr Noonan said the implication was always there that the emergency liquidity extended to Ireland’s banks would be pulled if any move on bondholders was made unilaterally.
The Sunday Independent has previously been refused a request for a copy of the letter from Mr Trichet by the Department of Finance on “confidentiality grounds”.
In turn, the ECB has also refused to release the letter.
In its explanation to an Irish journalist earlier this year for refusing to release it, ECB bossMario Draghi said: “The letter. . . is a strictly confidential communication between the ECB president and the Irish Minister of Finance and concerns measures addressing the extraordinarily severe and difficult situation of the Irish financial sector.”
However, since the issue has been raised in recent weeks by UCD economists Karl Whelan and Colm McCarthy, pressure has been building for its release.
Last Wednesday on TV3, Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte said he was “unaware” of the existence of this letter before now, but agreed in principle that it should be made public.
Speaking this weekend, other senior Labour figures have joined the calls for the controversial letter to be made public, with many saying the pending banking inquiry is the “appropriate forum” for its release.
“We have been pushing very hard for the banking inquiry and it is precisely to allow information like this to come out.
“We are very keen that this comes out,” said one senior Labour figure this weekend.
The letter was sent on November 19, 2010, from Mr Trichet to Mr Lenihan, just nine days before the white flag was finally hoisted.
In his last major interview before his death, Mr Lenihan told a BBC documentary that the ECB had threatened him both verbally and by correspondence about what would happen if he refused.
“Hell was at the gates,” he said, and he made clear that the ECB believed that Ireland “needed to be nailed down”.
According to Dr Alan Ahearne, Mr Lenihan’s former adviser, Mr Trichet sent Mr Lenihan a letter outlining his deep unhappiness over the amount of money that the ECB was “pouring into Ireland”.
“The letter landed in the department on the Friday afternoon/Friday evening.
“Mr Trichet was deeply unhappy about the level of funding from the ECB into Ireland.
“There was incredible pressure and he insisted Ireland would need to accept a bailout,” he told the Sunday Independent.
“The ECB wanted to stuff the Irish banks with capital, overcapitalise them really, but it was clear that it would only happen if Ireland went into the bailout facility,” Dr Ahearne added.
But Mr Lenihan, on his last-ever day in Leinster House, told a small number of his Fianna Failcolleagues how forceful the threats from Mr Trichet were.
“Two weeks before he died, we sat for coffee, and he told me that on the Friday evening [three days] before Dermot Ahern made his infamous “fiction” remark, the ECB contacted him directly and threatened that if he did not request a bailout, they would cut off funding immediately to Ireland,” former minister of state Billy Kelleher said.
Mr Kelleher also said this weekend that it was simply outrageous that an unelected official can behave in such a fashion with a sovereign government.
He has also called for the letter now to be released.
‘Leo Varadkar say’s no decision’ yet on Ireland’s property tax in 2013
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar say’s Government has made a decision yet?
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said the Government has not made a decision on the type of property tax to be introduced next year.
Commentary suggesting a decision had been taken to introduce the tax based on house valuation rather than square footage was “premature”, Mr Varadkar said. He was speaking at the Tall Ships Festival in Dublin earlier today.
“No decision has yet been made on whether it will be valuation based or floor based or site valuation based. All those decisions have yet to be made by the Government,” he said.
“I think some of the commentary of the property tax is probably a little bit premature. All that has been agreed is that a property tax will be introduced next year and that the Revenue Commissioners will be responsible for collecting it.”
A senior Government source said this week that the “value-based” property tax to replace the household charge mentioned in the documents would be calculated on the basis of current market value instead of property size.
The Cabinet is expected to consider a detailed memo on the tax on September 4th. The Department of Finance also said no decision has yet been made on how to impose the payment.
“The recommendation will be considered by Government in due course.”
The Government’s latest submission to the International Monetary Fund and EU on Friday indicated a property tax would be based on house valuation rather than square footage when introduced in the budget.
The Department of Finance said there was no new information or details contained in the EU/IMF documents.
“The documents mirror the previous programme documents published in May,” it added.
“The only decision that has been taken by Government regarding the property tax is that it will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners.”
Minister for Communications and Energy Pat Rabbitte said the Cabinet was still waiting recommendations on the Thornhill report on property tax from Environment Minister Phil Hogan.
“The design of the property tax has not at all been settled by Government,” he said.
“The idea is to broaden the tax base so we don’t have to continue to pile taxes on people at work and broaden the base of the tax system.”
“That decision is yet to be decided and yet to be discussed by Cabinet.”
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty called on the government to abandon its plans for a property tax and seek negotiation with the Troika on the issue in the Memorandum of Understanding.
He said the best and most fair way forward is to introduce a wealth tax as it takes account of ability to pay.
Fianna Fáil raised concerns over a value tax and accused Mr Hogan of sitting on the Thornhill report despite promised it would be made public.
IRELAND’S SPIRITUALITY IS NEVER IN DOUBT
‘Survey states’
ROLE MODEL AND THE GREATEST IMAGE: YOUNG OLYMPIC GOLDEN GIRL KATIE TAYLOR
Survey findings reflect public’s misgivings with the Church – not their fait
A SURVEY of 1,000 people in Ireland concluded that Irish people are abandoning religion at an alarming rate. The same questions were put, online, to samples of 1,000 people in 51 countries. The result in Ireland was that only 47 per cent of Irish people declared themselves to be, ‘a religious person’.
In 2005, when the last survey was carried out, that figure was 69 per cent. The result seems puzzling. The most recent census had 84 per cent of people who categorised themselves as Catholic.
Yet an Amarach Survey carried out for the Association of Catholic Priests (whose sample was also 1,000 people) showed that Irish people have a strong spiritual foundation but find it difficult to accept some core teachings and practices of the Catholic Church.
In the national census only 5 per cent said they had no religion whilst in this survey 10 per cent claim to be atheists.
Disillusioned
I wouldn’t argue with the prevailing trend of the survey, namely that there is a growing number of people who are disillusioned with religion. I don’t believe however that they have no religion or that they are not spiritual people.
The way the question was framed, and the time at which the survey took place, had a bearing on its outcome. Since 2005 there has been a series of reports whose conclusions were damning for leadership in the Catholic Church.
Secondly, because people say they are “not religious” doesn’t mean they have abandoned their relationship with God. Many have a personal relationship with God and a mature spirituality even though they wouldn’t admit to being “religious.” To be religious, in some circumstances, means the person is “a holy Joe.” I believe there are far more people interested in religion and in leading a good life than this survey allows.
Katie Taylor’s strong expression of faith will give many young people the courage to admit they need to have a relationship with God even though most Christian Churches are not providing a suitable outlet for their spirituality.
The most pressing challenge facing all religions now is to find the key to being relevant in peoples’ lives.
Disconnect
Worldwide studies indicate that young people, when they reach the age of 15, want to disconnect themselves from the Church. For many it becomes a permanent withdrawal but for others it’s a time of searching. The time has come for churches to admit the error of
their ways and to learn from the needs of the young. We need to seek the lost sheep with compassion and with enthusiasm.
their ways and to learn from the needs of the young. We need to seek the lost sheep with compassion and with enthusiasm.
From the letters I receive I see some trends. First of all churches don’t seem interested in accommodating younger people with their
doubts. The feeling is that the Church claims to have all the answers. Christian Churches are said to demonise anything with which they don’t agree.
doubts. The feeling is that the Church claims to have all the answers. Christian Churches are said to demonise anything with which they don’t agree.
Our task is to find ways of listening to and speaking with people who no longer feel comfortable within church. We don’t have all the
answers; there is no point pretending we do. The way religions constantly dismiss science and refuse to dialogue, makes it impossible for many intelligent young people to have respect for religion and its ways.
answers; there is no point pretending we do. The way religions constantly dismiss science and refuse to dialogue, makes it impossible for many intelligent young people to have respect for religion and its ways.
Rejected
Furthermore most young people find the Church’s view on sex and sexuality mystifying. The church’s views on sexual practice are so far removed from their life experience that there is precious little common ground left. We have to be enthusiastic about reaching
out to people who disagree with us. We must be able to appreciate them in a respectful way. Religion is not irrelevant.
out to people who disagree with us. We must be able to appreciate them in a respectful way. Religion is not irrelevant.
Dublin bids Bon Voyage to it’s tall ships
On the left Tall ship Danmark sails away from Dublin today at the end of the four-day festival which attracted over a million visitors to the city.
The organisers, market traders and spectators at the Tall Ships Festival couldn’t have wished for a better day today for the ships to set sail from Dublin’s River Liffey quays.
On a rare day of summer sunshine tens of thousands lined the quays from early morning to bid farewell to the ships following a four day festival which organisers say attracted crowds of more than 1.15 million over its four-day run.
Some of the best views of the ships were to be had yesterday afternoon, not from Dublin City centre, but from the Dublin Bay coastline as the ships let the wind into their sails on the open sea.
The East Link Bridge was raised to allow the 40-strong fleet to being its journey from Dublin Port led by the Naval Service LE Emer at 11am.
The Parade of Sail, which marks the official end of the festival travelled to Dún Laoghaire Harbour and after a 21-gun salute sailed to Howth.
Visitors to the festival have since Thursday last toured the ships and attended free outdoor music events with acts including Ash, Ryan Sheridan and Cathy Davey. There were also walking tours, watersports; skateboarding displays and street theatre.
However one event was cancelled today following a request by An Garda Síochána. The youth charity Foróige had hoped to break the record for the largest number of people performing the actions to 1970s Hues Corporation number Rock the Boat.
The event would have involved more than 1,600 people sitting in a line on the ground at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. The event was stopped by gardaí for health and safety reasons related to the large crowds in the area, organisers said.
Speaking at the event this morning Minister for Transport said the festival had been a great boost for tourism in the city.
“It has been an amazing couple of days for Dublin. Probably more than a million people have been to see the ships. The sun is shining and it has really helped with Government’s policy of building tourism and building the city. It really is fabulous.”
The festival was the “biggest event in Ireland this year” Mr Varadkar said and will have produced huge revenues for businesses in the city.
“It looks like the economic benefit to the city will be over €30 million. The hotels are full and the restaurants and bars are full too, and that’s really important. It is the sort of event we’re going to need to support in the future if the numbers add up.”
‘Imelda May Joy’ gives birth to baby girl Violet Kathleen on Thursday
Singer Imelda May became a mother for the first time on Thursday when she gave birth to daughter Violet Kathleen.
Imelda May: enjoying motherhood for the first time
The 38-year-old chart-topper took to her social networking page to announce the happy news that she and husband Darrel Higham had become parents.
She stated: “Darrel and I are pleased to announce the arrival of Violet Kathleen Higham – our beautiful baby daughter, born August 23, 2012, at 11.30.”
May had been due to give birth on August 16 – which was the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.
The GAA threatens legal action over fake Donegal shirts 'Result Donegal 0-16 Cork 1-11'
And now that Donegal are in the showpiece Croke park final on September the 23rd September it is a vital issue to be sorted out.
The GAA has threatened to take legal action against companies making fake Donegal jerseys.
The Donegal County Board has accused some clothing companies of producing replica Donegal GAA shirts, and other items, using the official crest.
County Secretary Hugh Martin Ferry said the Donegal crest is patented and no-one else has the right to use it.
“It is illegal, because the GAA has the sole licence to sell these items, and then they give the licence to a company to produce the garments and sell them on.
“The GAA branding was used to help sell these items, and the Donegal GAA branding was also used, and that’s a brand and a crest that we have the sole legal patent on,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment