Enda Kenny phone call to Angela Merkel leads to joint statement on bank debt deal
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel have issued a joint communiqué saying that Ireland’s banking crisis was “unique” and that Ireland was to be considered a special case in the forthcoming negotiations over the role of the new bailout fund the European Stability Mechanism in
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel have issued a joint communiqué saying that Ireland’s banking crisis was “unique” and that Ireland was to be considered a special case in the forthcoming negotiations over the role of the new bailout fund the European Stability Mechanism in supported troubled banks.
The statement followed a phone call between the two leaders this afternoon.
It comes after two days of opposition attacks over Ms Merkel’s apparent rejection on Friday of the ESM being used for so-called legacy debt.
As the EU summit was winding up at the end of last week, Ms Merkel, in response to a question about Spanish banks, said there would be no retroactive recapitalisation of banks by the ESM.
Her remarks triggered a barrage of opposition attacks against Mr Kenny, who had hailed the summit as a success.
While Berlin confirmed that the chancellor meant that only future debts would be covered, over the next 12 hours the Chancellery issued two apparently mollifying statements supporting Ireland’s reform efforts and a return to the bond markets.
This evening, following a half hour phone call, the two leaders issued the joint statement reaffirming the commitment of 29 June, which said that Ireland’s bank debt situation would be looked at.
Encouragingly from the Government’s point of view, the statement described Ireland as a special case and the circumstances surrounding the banking crisis as “unique”.
This would be taken into account by eurozone finance ministers, the statement concluded, as they begin negotiations on how the ESM will work, once a banking supervision system is in place.
The statement did not spell out that legacy debt will be covered but it will provide the coalition with some badly needed cover following the criticism it has taken since Friday lunchtime.
Meanwhile later today:
Francois Hollande the French president supports Irish bid for a banking-debt agreement
French president Francois Hollande (L) welcomes Taoiseach Enda Kenny before a meeting in Paris today.
French president François Hollande today said he supports Ireland’s campaign to have old bank debt covered by recapitalisations through the euro zone’s new rescue fund.
Mr Hollande said Ireland was “a special case” and must be treated as such when euro group finance ministers negotiate a deal on how to break the link between sovereign and bank debt over the coming months.
German chancellor Angela Merkel caused consternation in Dublin last Friday when she said “legacy” debt would not be covered by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund, echoing remarks made last month by her finance minister and apparently threatening Ireland’s long-running efforts to secure an EU deal to ease its multibillion-euro bank debt burden.
However, she and Taoiseach Enda Kenny issued a joint statement yesterday affirming that Ireland’s bank rescue was a “special case” and that euro zone leaders would examine ways of improving it.
After a 50-minute meeting with Mr Kenny at the Élysée Palace in Paris this afternoon, Mr Hollande pledged his support for Ireland’s position.
“The Irish specificity is that for several months there had already been a recapitalisation of banks through the budget, which further exacerbated Ireland’s debt and forced it to impose a tough austerity program,” Mr Hollande remarked.
“I said Ireland was a special case and should be treated as such.”
Asked by The Irish Times if this meant he agreed with the Irish position that bank recapitalisations through the ESM should be retroactive, the French president said: “Yes. Ireland is asking that its specific situation should be taken into account – that it had to recapitalise its banks with its own means. The Eurogroup will take this specificity into account.”
Mr Kenny said that what made Ireland a special case was the fact that it had a European position “imposed upon it” when the banking sector collapsed.
“Ireland was the first and only country which had a European position imposed upon it, in the sense that there wasn’t the opportunity if the Government wished to do it their way by burning bondholders.
“The Irish public and Irish taxpayer were required to service the full extent of the debt, which was a situation which we’re trying to reduce by the negotiations which are going on.”
Mr Kenny’s visit to Paris was his first as Taoiseach, reflecting an improvement in relations between France and Ireland since Mr Hollande came to power in May. He is also attending a major food fair in Villepinte, near Paris, underlining France’s importance as one of Ireland’s main export markets.
Mr Hollande confirmed that he would receive President Michael D Higgins in Paris next February.
This afternoon, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said if a bank-debt deal can be reached, it would not affect this year’s budget.
He said it was made clear during the June euro zone meeting that any move on bank recapitalisation would only happen after an EU-wide banking supervisory body was in place. “We are looking well into next year, quite clearly after the budget….[but] If we get a resolution which makes the debt more sustainable obviously that improves budgets in the future,” Mr Noonan added.
Earlier, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said the joint statement made it clear that Ireland is being treated as a “special case” in Europe. He said the deal on Ireland’s bank debt “was never off track” although he conceded there was “concern” at Government level on Friday after Dr Merkel dismissed retrospective recapitalisation of banks in response to a question about the Spanish situation.
“The issuing of a joint communiqué . . . puts the issue beyond any doubt that Ireland’s case being treated as special,” he said.
He said contacts between Berlin and Dublin began immediately after Dr Merkel’s comments on Friday and continued at very senior diplomatic level over the weekend, culminating in a telephone discussion between Dr Merkel and Mr Kenny and the issuing of the communiqué.
Mr Gilmore was speaking at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, where he was attending the Africa Ireland Economic Forum. He said the statement issued last night was perfectly consistent with what was agreed in June by European heads of State. He said there was political support for efforts to work through Ireland’s debt problem in European capitals, including Berlin.
He stressed the statement was clear that Ireland’s case was special. “There’s a very strong view that Europe needs a winner and needs a country to come out of the programme and Ireland is the best-placed country to do that.”
Irish League of credit unions says it will lobby for changes to Credit Union Bill
The Irish League of Credit Unions has stated it will continue to lobby for changes to the Credit Union Bill after former senator Joe O’Toole accused it of having “learned nothing and forgotten nothing” about financial governance and probity.
The league, which represents 3.1 million members, called for changes to a number of aspects of the Credit Union Bill, including those which it feels would prevent it from sharing electronic lodgement and withdrawal services between branches.
It is also concerned about restrictions on officers serving in more than one branch.
The league said a further issue is that while the Bill provides for an appeal process to the Irish Financial Services Appeal Tribunal, a concurrent Bill regarding the Central Bank directs appeals to the High and Supreme Courts.
Mr O’Toole said it appeared “internal ILCU matters are taking precedence over a Government commitment to make the guts of €1 billion available to solve the credit union difficulties…in short to create a viable and safe Irish Credit Union movement”.
Mr O’Toole and ILCU chief executive Kieran Brennan both served on the Government’s Commission on Credit Unions which Mr O’Toole claims agreed a report which is the basis for the current legislation “unanimously and [it] was acclaimed and welcomed by every significant group including the ILCU”.
He says no group had more representation on that commission than the ILCU.
The two men have subsequently served on an implementation group to monitor the progress of action on the commission’s recommendations, Mr O’Toole said. It had been pleased with progress and there were no disagreements within the group.
“Then two weeks after we had sat around a table together impressing on the department the importance of keeping to the implementation schedule Kieran launches a campaign to delete some and dilute other key recommendations,” he said.
The league said it believes directions issued to it from the Central Bank under the Central Bank Bill would negate its ability to appeal to the financial services tribunal.
Mr Brennan says the application of the Central Bank Acts 1942-2011 to credit unions was neither discussed nor agreed at the commission and would be onerous for a voluntary organisation.
While the league welcomed most reforms in the Credit Union Bill, the “discrepancies” between the recommendations of the Commission on Credit Unions and the Credit Union Bill itself needed to be addressed, he said.
He said the league was “fully supportive of the need to assist the restructuring of the credit union sector” but he believed restructuring would need to be in done “in a manner that does not ignore the voluntary nature and ethos of the movement”.
Eamon Gilmore backs gay marriage
Ireland’s journey toward creating a society fully tolerant of the gay community is still not complete, the Tánaiste has claimed.
Eamon Gilmore said attitudes in the country were almost unrecognisable to those that prevailed a generation ago but insisted more progress was needed.
Addressing the European region’s annual International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) conference in Dublin, Mr Gilmore reaffirmed his support for the acknowledgment of gay marriage by the state.
“That ILGA Europe should choose our capital city, Dublin, for this conference is a source of pride for us,” he said.
“This city, and this Republic, have been on their own remarkable journey in relation to the rights of LGBTI persons.
“There is a generation of young Irish people, for whom the Ireland of twenty or thirty years ago would be almost unrecognisable.
“Thousands of young LGBTI persons, who in the past would have felt the need to live elsewhere, have opted to stay in Ireland.
“And by doing so, they have enriched the country and made it a more tolerant place. Many in public life have emerged as role models for young LGBTI people and, in recent years, civil partnership ceremonies have been occasions of great celebration around the country.
“That journey is still incomplete. As I have stated elsewhere, the right of same-sex couples to marry is not a gay rights issue, it is a civil rights issue, and one that I support.
“The question of same-sex marriage is one that will be considered by our forthcoming Constitutional Convention. This is an innovation in Irish democracy, where citizens and public representatives will come together to consider what changes might be made to our Constitution, so that it better reflects not just the society we are now, but the society we aspire to.”
The conference was attended by delegates from 42 countries across Europe who work for LGBTI rights.
Tiernan Brady, chair of the Dublin conference, welcomed Mr Gilmore’s attendance.
“The Tánaiste’s presence at the conference is remarkable symbol of the progress that has taken place in Ireland,” he said.
“The Tánaiste’s presence sent a powerful message of hope to those delegates coming from countries where LGBTI people are under daily threat, and where opportunities for progress are very limited.
“Many of these delegates face considerable challenges in their own countries in achieving basic human rights for LGBTI people.”
He added: “The Tánaiste’s commitment to continue Ireland’s strong track record of the promotion of human rights for LGBTI people across Europe and the world was enthusiastically welcomed by the delegates.”
Yesterday members of Ireland’s transgender community held a rally in Dublin to demand greater recognition in law.
They were joined at the gates of Leinster House by supporters from elsewhere in Europe at the protest calling for new legislation to have their changed gender acknowledged legally.
Organisers claim transgender people in Ireland and elsewhere in the world are treated as if they have a mental disorder.
They said the time had come for the introduction of “inclusive and respectful” gender recognition legislation and criticised progress made by the current Irish government on the issue.
Some 75% of people ‘cannot name the body’s biggest organ’
It may be basic biology but the majority of British people cannot name the largest organ in the body, according to a survey.
A total of 75% of people revealed they did not know it was the skin, while almost half (47%) of people admitted to wrongly self-diagnosing an illness.
Perhaps in a sign of the times, findings also revealed more than half (58%) of people prefer to check the internet about symptoms before consulting a doctor.
The survey of 2,000 people, commissioned to coincide with the release of the eighth series of medical drama House on DVD, showed that just under half of people believed their lungs were the largest organ in their bodies.
Demonstrating further confusion, 64% and 43% were unable able to correctly place their spleen and liver respectively.
Meanwhile, the research also revealed that nearly one in 10 people turn to television shows such as Embarrassing Bodies,Casualty, Doctors and House to self-diagnose medical conditions.
One in 20 people have overheard someone talking about an illness and used this information to self-diagnose, while one in 50 people have heard of a celebrity’s illness, such as Lady Gaga‘s lupus or Jade Goody’s cervical cancer, and again applied the symptoms to themselves.
Jane Druker, editor of Healthy magazine, said: “Increasingly, TV shows such as House are making people more aware of looking after their own health; however, it’s really worrying that so many Brits are self-medicating an illness rather than consulting with a GP or seeking the advice of a qualified high street health professional.
“With nearly half of people wrongly self-diagnosing an illness, this can lead to a great deal of unnecessary additional stress that could be avoided by simply asking a professional.”
House: Season 8 is available today on DVD, legal download and via video-on demand from Universal Playback.
Beluga whale ‘makes human-like sounds’
Beluga whales are known as “canaries of the sea” because of their frequent, high-pitched calls
Researchers in the US have been shocked to discover a beluga whale whose vocalisations were remarkably close to human speech.
While dolphins have been taught to mimic the pattern and durations of sounds in human speech, no animal has spontaneously tried such mimicry.
But researchers heard a nine-year-old whale named NOC make sounds octaves below normal, in clipped bursts.
The researchers outline in Current Biology just how NOC did it.
But the first mystery was figuring out where the sound was coming from. The whales are known as “canaries of the sea” for their high-pitched chirps, and while a number of anecdotal reports of whales making human-like speech, none had ever been recorded.
When a diver at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California surfaced saying, “Who told me to get out?” the researchers there knew they had another example on their hands.
Once they identified NOC as the culprit, they made the first-ever recordings of the behaviour.
They found that vocal bursts averaged about three per second, with pauses reminiscent of human speech. Analysis of the recordings showed that the frequencies within them were spread out into “harmonics” in a way very unlike whales’ normal vocalisations and more like those of humans.
They then rewarded NOC for the speech-like sounds to teach him to make them on command and fitted him with a pressure transducer within his nasal cavity, where sounds are produced, to monitor just what was going on.
They found that he was able to rapidly change the pressure within his nasal cavity to produce the sounds.
To amplify the comparatively low-frequency parts of the vocalisations, he over-inflated what is known at the vestibular sac in his blowhole – which normally acts to stop water entering the lungs.
In short, the mimicry was no easy task for NOC.
“Our observations suggest that the whale had to modify its vocal mechanics in order to make the speech-like sounds,” said Sam Ridgway, president of the National Marine Mammal Foundation and lead author on the paper.
“The sounds we heard were clearly an example of vocal learning by the white whale.”
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