Ireland Sees Opportunity in Greek Solution

Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, asked in Parliament on Tuesday, “Why is it acceptable to write down Greek debt, when the Irish pay private bankers’ debts?” Kenny has replied that he is seeking redress on a “number of fronts.”

Alan Ahearne, economics professor at Galway University, who acted as adviser to former Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, was quoted saying, “Had a European bank resolution fund been in place, some of the resolution of Irish banks would have been part of that. The Irish government has a legitimate claim that there should be some sort of burden-sharing on a European level.”

The dispute is not likely to go away without some sort of concessions from Europe. Gavin Blessing, a bond analyst at Collins Stewart Plc in Dublin, was quoted in the report saying, “There’s a political problem for the government. The Greeks, who are seen to be behaving badly, get rewarded, whereas the Irish, the top boys in the class, get nothing.” He added, “The Irish Government needs something to reassure the general public that we aren’t being treated unfairly. Haircuts on Ireland’s sovereign debt may be ruled out given the negative consequences. But there may be other, less dramatic ways of achieving debt reduction by less visible, less damaging means.”