To date the Government has given the banks a €440 billion guarantee and a €10 billion actual payout. Irish taxpayer’s will never see a return on the €1.5 billion given to Anglo Irish Bank, it’s gone forever.
The Government guarantee for the greedy bankers has seriously damaged the country’s international credit rating and the billions already handed out with billions more to come will completely destroy any hope of an early recovery for the economy thus condemning the Irish people to many years of financial hardship and causing a great deal of damage to the country.
Despite all this the bankers continue to show complete and utter contempt for Irish citizens. All deals are done in complete secrecy; details are kept to an absolute minimum. Nobody has or will be fired.
Brian Lenihan, acting as the official toady for the bankers, makes public statements from time to time informing us of what his masters have decided. His (their) latest decree informed citizens, in no uncertain terms, that no bankers will suffer the indignity of losing their jobs.
“Bank of Ireland and AIB have boards. They have to reflect on their responsibilities, they have to reflect on the performance of their own management team. And of course they will reflect on them but it is not the function of the Government to chop off heads every second of the day. We have seen a number of people (heads) roll this week and I have no doubt that in all the financial institutions responsibility will be taken.”
In a sentence – The bankers are calling the shots; they are being allowed to risk the future of every Irish citizen in order to retain their jobs and ill gotten gains.
It is against this backdrop that Senator Shane Ross is attempting to organise a shareholder’s revolt. Aparently there are up to 300,000 small shareholders in the various Irish banks.
Ross wants them to attend the upcoming EGMs beginning with Anglo Irish Bank on January 16th next. He wants them to turn up ‘armed with their votes and questions’.
Votes and questions??? – Surely that should be pikes and muskets?