Everyone was wondering why the Irish do not rebel against the attempt to pay workers the follies of the banking system. Emerald island yesterday came the first sign of awakening, when more than 100,000 (in a country of 4 million and a half people) marched through the streets of Dublin to protest against the "Plan Hardship developed by the government of Brian Cowen as a counterpart to the promised 85 billion loan from IMF (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
The event, organized by the confederation of Irish trade unions (ICTU), has lined the river Liffey which runs through the capital, to get in front of central post office in O 'Connell Street, where in 1916 he was declared the independence of Ireland . In march, workers, students, retirees, united against the austerity plan of 15 billion the government provides for the elimination of 25,000 jobs in the public sector, cuts in unemployment benefits and family allowances, with the risk of reducing the Gross domestic product by 4%. All this to appease the IMF and ECB are ready to provide 50 billion dollars to consolidate debt public and 35 billion to stabilize the balance sheets of big banks on the island, on the verge of bankruptcy because of the junk mortgages.
"There is a better and fairer" than that proposed by the government, claiming centinaiai yellow signs of agitation between the echo of bagpipes by a mob from which they rained insults against the unpopular Prime Minister and Finance Minister Cowen Lenihan. Despite the bitter cold, the event has exceeded expectations on the eve of a country not accustomed to the policy of the square. A sample of about 500 people reached the Dail, the lower house of parliament, where there have been some skirmishes and an image of the police Cowen has been given to fiamme.
«Diverse generazioni di irlandesi pagheranno le conseguenze del debito» contratto dal governo, ha dichiarato il presidente della Ictu Jack O' Connor, nel comizio finale in cui diversi rappresentanti dei sindacati sono stati fischiati dalla folla, per non aver fatto abbastanza contro la politica del governo. Il segretario David Begg ha paragonato il governo a Dick Turpin, il celebre bandito inglese del '700. «Almeno Turpin quando rubava si copriva il volto», ha ironizzato Begg.
Mentre i manifestanti inondavano le strade della capitale, Cowen era in trattative con una delegazione del Fmi e della Bce per ultimare i dettagli del piano di salvataggio. Stando a indiscrezioni, al megaprestito, che will be presented next week, would apply an interest rate of over 6%, well above the 5.5% expected at the start. If so it would be yet another humiliation for Cowen, whose majority in the Dail has been reduced to two MPs, after Friday, Sinn Fein won by-elections in West Donegal.