The IMF’s mission chief in Ireland, Ajai Chopra, said of the Irish bailout: “This is a very good deal for Ireland in current circumstances.”
Not quite everyone agrees.
In fact, basically no-one without a vested interest agrees.
Paul Krugman and Fintan O’Toole wrote columns excoriating it, Richard Douthwaite and Constantin Gurdgiev both loathe it… does anyone actually like this bailout?
The issue cuts across ideological lines. Could green-inclined Douthwaite, free-marketeer Gurdiev and social democrat O’Toole agree on much else? On the libertarian right, UCD professor Gerard Casey says the Irish are being treated like peasants. On the libertarian left, meanwhile, James Heartfield says the bailout is colonisation by another name. Social democrat Stephen Kinsells says it’s inequitable and regressive.
Quote of the day goes to Slugger’s Mick Fealty, though, for reasons you’ll have to read the article to understand.