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Debt: of the Greek and Irish varieties.
Talks between Greece and the eurozone finance ministers ended without agreement last night.
Eurogroup has now given the embattled country until the end of the week to apply for an extension to its €240 billion bailout. Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis described the deal as “unacceptable”. He is looking for a six-month bridging loan while a new agreement is negotiated.
Doubts about Greece’s future in the eurozone abound, but Varoufakis remains optimistic about the prospect of a deal.
Irish eyes are watching the negotiations with great interest, particularly in light of comments made by Ashoka Mody yesterday. The former IMF chief of mission to Ireland told Newstalk our government had “absolutely” missed out on an opportunity to strike a debt writedown deal with the Troika in 2010. Finance Minister Michael Noonan later dismissed the remarks.
Speaking to Morning Ireland today, Former IMF Director Donal O’Donovan said the country had failed in its “very good efforts” to get a better debt deal as it was “shut out of the markets” had “no negotiating power left”.
He described the deal we got as “not a good solution”, but added: “What options did we have?”
A lot of people are now asking the same question about Greece.
TD Finian McGrath has said that the leadership of the new Independent Alliance is a bit like Cuba.At the moment we’ve a collective leadership, as they say in Havana,” he told us during a wide-ranging interview. The Dublin North Central TD said Shane Ross and Michael Fitzmaurice are strong characters but added that the group’s leadership will ultimately be decided by its members.”I’ve no interest in egos or leadership issues,” he said.
Originally published: 9am
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