THE WORKERS' PARTY OF IRELAND

Anglo tapes should surprise nobody

"The economic crimes against the Irish working class did not end in 2008, they continue today in the form of never-ending austerity"  

WP President Michael Finnegan
Michael Finnegan

The President of the Workers’ Party, Michael Finnegan, has said that the revelations of the Anglo Irish Banks tapes should be no surprise to anyone in this country and merely confirmed what most people believed about the attitude of the banking elites.

Mr. Finnegan said that calls for public inquiries into the revelations were merely a distraction and the real issue at stake was the influence the bankers were able to wield with the government and senior civil servants.

“The real shock about the Anglo tapes is that anybody at all is surprised about their content”, said Mr. Finnegan.  “Workers in this country have long suspected that the state as a whole was being taken for a ride by bankers.  Would there be any real difference in content if these tapes had come from the decision makers in the top multinationals operating here? Clearly there would not and the recent US Senate hearings on tax avoidance showed that Ireland continues to be a soft touch.”

“If we were able to hear recordings of senior government ministers or civil servants from the night the banking bailout was agreed would their attitude to ordinary taxpayers and citizens be any different?  We may never know but we can take a clue from the subsequent lectures on the need for ‘patriotism’ and the claim that ‘we were all in this together’.    The message was the same, that whatever mess big business gets itself into that the workers of this country can always be forced to foot the bill and driven into penury if necessary”.

The Workers’ Party president said another round of tribunals or lengthy investigations would not satisfy the Irish people.   “It is time that the workers of this country got some justice.  They have had enough circuses, they now want to see people put on trial and the economic crimes against the Irish working class did not end in 2008, they continue today.  Justice dictates that the burden of debt should be lifted from PAYE workers who did not incur it.  The only way to do that is to default on debts that are not ours”, said Michael Finnegan.

Issued 28th June 2013

Peace, Work, Democracy & Class Politics