What makes you think he wasn’t offering his politically independent view?

The lack of political independence. Honohan is effectively an ECB employee, although many in Ireland still think he’s representing our interests .. wrong.

I am in two minds as to his reasons for speaking out and like you I find it worrying that ”Patrick Honohan has obviously acted without fear of sanction i.e. he has discussed publically endorsing a yes vote and has been givern impunity by the cabinet, or at least senior members of Fine Gael”
.” OR is he under duress from the same (members of) the ”cabinet, or at least senior members of Fine Gael” One just has to wonder !!!

I’ve answered this point above. I don’t think it helps to repost esentially the same point across this thread. Let’s keep to the one comment stream above.

No Desmond, you didn’t answer this point. You’re hiding behind the pretense that this constitutes “free speech”.

Honohan works for the ECB. He actually is reponsible to the ECB and not to the Irish people.

Spot on . He did his best and acted morally , but it seems now the government are making him oay for his ”folly” . I respected you back then :) Vote No.

HE is the head of the Central Bank for flip sake. He should be staying out of politics.

Karl Whelan is an economist based in UCD he is not a government employee appointed to manage the central bank of Ireland and advise the government on economic policy. A bit of a difference O’Reilly.

Fagan, the last head of the central bank kept his mouth firmly shut. If only…

Kerry, McLaughlin say’s “public servants, of which Honohan is one….” He is clearly refering to all public servants…

So you’re inferring what he meant by what he DIDN’T say?

Well done. Bravo.

Academics are supposed to enjoy academic freedom and are expected to comment. Honohan has a different set of responsibilities.

… advocating a NO … to free speech!

Rediculous Desmond. It is part of his contract with the state under the code of standards and behaviour to publicly remain impartial in such matters. To have the head of the central bank publicly render an opinion on a referendum with fiscal ramifications is absolutely unacceptable. Like I said, if you sign a contract agreeing to not publically give an opinion on something, it supercedes any right to free speech you may contest. Don’t believe me? You think studio workers who break their NDAs to reveal details of a movie script can hide behind free speech, or are they going to court?

I’ve answered these points above.

Actually, no. You gave your opinion which is contrary to the facts at hand. The rules don’t change just because you agree with the guy breaking them.

@Desmond: no, you did not answer those points above.

It’s hard to believe that Honohan is genuinely evaluating the FC on the economic facts. Nobody has answered the questions raised by Krugman, Weidmann (head of Bundesbank), Spain, Holland, the other Hollande etc.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-22/bundesbank-s-weidmann-says-what-no-eu-politician-wants-to-hear

These questions are real. This discussion is not based on the facts, we are supposed to vote yes to this treaty so that we’re not seen to rock the boat.

In fairness to Honohan he only became governor of the central bank in 2009 Cal so the housing bubble can not be laid at his door Cal. That honor belongs to his predecessor who rode off into the sunset with a golden handshake for his efforts.

He’s been told what to say by the powers that be.

If anything this is a sure sign to vote NO. How many treaties have been forced down our throats like this. Do they think we don’t remember Nice!

Judging by level of intelligence then Honohan gets my vote.

Will you stop Mutt,
He had you at “Hello”

joseph mcgee…
You haven’t done your homework. Have you?

Judging by level of self interest, he doesn’t get mine.

No offense, but it really really sounds you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about with a comment like that.

The governor was actually a TCD economist before he was appointed … Don’t think he had anything to do with banks …

i have studied this treaty inside out and a no vote is the only way to go. it is not good for this country and it is federalising europe and we certainly didn’t sign up for that,, so here is my summary of the treaty..
structrual defecit to be kept to 0.5 of GDP, at the mo its 5.8%
Gov debt to be kept to 60%, at the mo its 120%
Our budget will be monitored by europe, going against ART 1 of our constitution which states” we have the right to self determination”
The ESM will be enshrined into our constitution, which i believe is a flawed document
ART 136 of the tfeu will be changed,, we should have a vote on this
The fiscal treaty will be written into EU law after 5 yrs,,,
their is nothing good in this for us,,, make no mistake and vote a big NO

@ JoeYou’re right of course and the only Argument the yes side have is we’ll be locked out of the ESM. Yet they have taken no time to explain exactly waht the ESM is and how much power they will have and how unanswerable to anyone they will be.
This is from artical 32 of the ESM treaty
3. The ESM, its property, funding and assets, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy immunity from every form of judicial process except to the extent that the ESM expressly waives its immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract, including the documentation of the funding instruments.
4. The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall, wherever located and by whomsoever held, be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of seizure, taking or foreclosure by executive, judicial, administrative or legislative action.
5. The archives of the ESM and all documents belonging to the ESM or held by it, shall be inviolable.
The Fiscal pact will lock us into this And I for one do not want an unelected body above the law controling all aspects of Irish life. make no mistake who ever controls the purse strings controls everything.

Mike..
A banker telling you what to do?
What did previous governments do to you?
Including the current one.
And now you are paying household charges etc!
The joke is on you Mike!

@francis,,, you are spot on buddy,, the only one here that actually knows whats going on, i wonder how many ppl here have actually read both treaties,,, it is scary,,, and look in annex1 francis,,, towards the voting trends and you will see germany, france and italy have a combined total of 65.5% of the vote in the ESM,,, its not good for anyone

And look at the state of our country – bankrupted, pillaged and sold by the very supporters of this austerity treaty, a treaty drawn up and designed by the people who lied about our banks proper state and the ones who previously held a gun to our heads forcing a massive debt upon us……and they want us to oblige them by supporting another bureaucratic piece of shit treaty with another gun held to our heads???…who will not even entertain the idea of relieving us of some of this unfair burden they themselves foisted on us??????

I shall picture myself marking the NO box so I can frame it and show my grandchildren that I was not one of them who willfully signed away their future and their country.

NO.

With you all the way Dermot.

I too will be taking a photo of me marking NO
for the same reasons you stated.

Shades of Belfast in the bad times????????

Ya not very funny clown ya.
You should look closer to home.
Look at the state of ur own shower in Labour.
Endorsing a policy and a treaty guaranteed to
to bring horrible hardship on the people of Ireland.
The party of James Connolly……I don’t think.

Straight question Mr Desmond “Labour Man” O’Toole,
If James Connolly were alive to vote,
do you think he’d vote Yes?

Your comment conveys shades of Maynooth on a cold day, with the bathroom window left open, and a breeze blowing through the house and your wondering where all the drafts are coming from, as you site beside the fire, drinking a hot chocolate. Looking at the Late Late show thinking, that while Gaybo was a bit of a bollox he sure was a great host.

@ fagan’s -Very witty comment! :)

@Fagan’s. So poetic that I read your comment, not once, not twice, but thrice.

Desmond O ‘Toole
”Shades of Belfast in the bad times” Not scare mongering much are you this morning and you so much against ”haters” and all that .Your comment reeks of hate and scare mongering .
I believe Connolly and Larkinet al would all have voted NO.

So you’re all Ok with Gerry “I-was-never-in-the-IRA” Adams trying to deny the right to free speech of another citizen? I don’t recall Adams attacking Honohan when the latter blew the whistle on the IMF negotiations live on radio during Cowen’s mis-reign.

First of all, SF deliberately and dishonestly misquote three leading economists to suggest they supported SF policy. Now, SF are trying to deny freedom of speech to the governor of the Central Bank and member of the ECB who might actually know what he’s talking about. I know SF are new to Irish democracy, but their arrogant attempt to deny others’ democratic rights really are breathtakingly cynical.

Desmond what about FG’s miss use of public money to push for a yes vote on http://www.stabilitytreaty.ie do you condemn that as well?

Adams isn’t even mentioned in the article Desmond.

Your adding to the general sense of Labour being a parody party, at this stage. A party that see’s itself as only a crutch for FG rather than a normal functioning party with a vision and some capability.

If the best you can do to sell the treaty is talk about Shades of Belfast and Adams,then you really are political toast.

Established parties rarely are beaten in to history, the root causes of their demise are their own creation and go back years prior to the crisis that finished them. FF’s woes and weaknesses go back 20 years.

I see the same problems in Labour, have been there for years.

I think that whole website is a bad idea, Jerry, but that’s not the subject of this article and subsequent comment thread.

@ Desmond. The governor of the central bank is subject to the same code of standards and behaviour as any other public servant, it is part of his job description. Your argument is akin to saying that somebody breaking a non disclosure agreement that they have signed cannot be sued because they’re exercising their right to free speech. Try it sometime. Your ass will end up in court.

Edit: should be ‘senior public servant’.

Interesting post, Fagan, but hardly relevant. Perhaps we should address the actual subject of this article.

SF have attacked the Governor for speaking on the Fiscal Tteaty and attempted to deny him his freedom to speak. On the other hand, SF previously applauded Honohan’s speaking out on the Cowen government’s duplicity about the IMF negotations and relied on Honohan’s comments to make attacks on the then government at that time. You can’t have it both ways, Fagan. SF have form in this area of outright dishonesty, re. the violent records of its leading members, to duplicity in saying one thing to people in this Republic and the complete opposite (on tax and public service cutbacks) to their supporters in Northern Ireland.

I have no time for political duplicity whatever its source, including when it happens from within my own political family. Can you say the same?

“Shades of Belfast in the bad times.” Yeah I think you’re quite accurate Desmond. A foreign power with a gun to Ireland’s head. We even had the Troika threatening a bomb going off in Dublin if we don’t pay back the bondholders.

This Treaty is financial terrorism. Ireland has the highest level of debt in the EU. The ECB are in an awful hurry to make sure the British and German bondholders are paid asap. Why should our society be destroyed for this when it’s #NotOurDebt!

That’s not the case, trueleft. Take a look at the regular interventions made, for example, by Mario Draghi of the ECB or the head of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, or indeed the head of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. Such political interventions by ECB members and national Central Bank chairpersons/governors is very common and unremarkable. This is common knowledge. I’m surprised you’re unaware of it. Why are you seeking to deny Honohan a right to freedom of speech that is available to all other Central Bank heads across the Western world?

@ Desmond. While that may well be true fur senior public servants from other countries, unfortunately for you Patrick Honohan is a senior irish public servant and as such is covered by OUR code of standards and behaviour, which stipulates he must remain impartial in such matters.

I don’t think Honohan was speaking “as a citizen” but as the Governor of the Central Bank – which affords him a platform not available to ordinary citizens. With freedom comes responsibility.

Some food for thought there alright. I’ll confess I like Honohan’s independent streak when it shows up.

Not sure he’s truly independent though. He works for the ECB, and letting us know about the IMF/ECB intervention definitely served their purpose at the time he revealed it.

TDs and Academics are supposed to voice their opinions. There is no expectation of impartiality, and by doing so we get to look at all the competing ideas. Over time we can figure out which ones are sensible and which ones are off the wall – their reputation follows them. The Guy running the central bank does have the impartiality issue, and also has a platform for his pronouncements that is based on his position. He’s not commenting as a private citizen.