CRITICS OF the Government who claim it should not pay a €1.25 billion Anglo Irish Bank debt due tomorrow have never recognised the consequences of a default, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said.
Mr Gilmore, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs, said it was easy to argue against redeeming the senior unsecured bonds of the bank, but said there would be serious consequences in that event.
The Tánaiste was speaking in Brussels as foreign and finance ministers gathered for EU talks yesterday.
Both he and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan separately told reporters the Government would call a referendum on Europe’s fiscal pact if required, but neither said whether they were confident the public would back the treaty if asked.
“Those who make the call for not repaying have never spelled out what those consequences are,” Mr Gilmore said in relation to the Anglo bonds.
Pointing to the gap between public expenditure of €52 billion and revenues of €33 billion, he said the question arose as to who would lend to the Government if it reneged on the bonds.
“If you don’t repay will people lend to you?
Gilmore says Anglo critics do not grasp default ramifications (Irish Times)
Meanwhile, in Dun Laoghaire…
@Luke Martin_DL
(Photocall Ireland)
“I have always believed in the separation of church and State. I think it is the job of Government and of the State to enact our laws and to ensure that those laws apply to everybody whether they belong to a church or not. It is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority.”
