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A GROUP OF nine nurses and clerical staff at University Hospital Waterford had some much-needed good luck this month, wining €500,000 in the EuroMillions on 3 June.
The group, which would like to remain anonymous, collected the prize today.
The syndicate is made up of nine women, all aged in their 30s and 40s, who have been playing together for five years.
They will each receive €55,555.55.
“I was at my mother-in-law’s for dinner last week and she said there’d been a big win locally. I hadn’t played myself and thought we might have been in with the work syndicate, but didn’t think much more of it,” one of the happy winners said today as she drank champagne.
“The next day we checked the results on our phones, and the numbers all matched – we couldn’t believe it! So we ran to the shop and put it under the scanner and it said ‘Contact the National Lottery’. We asked for the results in the shop too – we checked it every way we could.”
One of their children was curious about how the money would be paid.
“My little one asked if it was coins or paper money I’d won,” one of the ladies explained, while another said her two-year-old reacted with the phrase: “On the ball Mam.”
“To us it’s like winning a million each. I plan to save some and will take my little boy to Disneyland when he is older,” said one of the women, while another said her winnings will be put to good use as she is getting married in a few months.
“I hadn’t gotten around to booking the honeymoon… now we can have the honeymoon of a lifetime.”
The syndicate bought their ticket in Ardkeen Superstores on the Dunmore Road in Waterford. The shop is doing something right as it also sold a EuroMillions jackpot winning ticket worth €12.8 million in September 2013.
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The Greeks know they are f**ked. Not about them anymore. This is now about protecting the next generation.
As Iceland did. As we should have done. In fact, what we elected Labour and FG to do.
Would you rather we were in the position Iceland are in now?
Well there’s a Freudian slip, I meant to say Greece! It’s late, I’m going to bed!
Grease, Ice, whatever works ;)
Iceland are doing grand now. They let the banks default as a free market economy should and now they’re experiencing growth again.
Were also experiencing serious growth in case anyone hasn’t noticed
Yes Darren.2 years of record low numbers of houses built at a time of housing shortage and spiraling rent increases. We are in great shape.
a very one d view of the economy there Brian… Tom Parlon as much as admitted that builders are not building because they would not get the kind of profit they got during the tiger era… maybe if they took a little less profit?
This is the highest stakes game of poker in the history of the world. First one to blink looses. Greek government has just gone all in to call Europe’s bluff. Which is either incredibly ballsy or extremely stupid. Either way, they’re going for it, which is more than I can say for our lot.
as someone who builds for a living, I can attest that the profit you think is there, quite simply, isn’t. Most builders I know are operating barely above cost, just to keep working.
@Darren Turner
“Were also experiencing serious growth” Yes In home repossessions, Stealth Tax, and Emigration, Not sure who is experiencing the recovery but its not me.
Greece is the word, is the word that you heard, It’s got groove it’s got meaning
Are we Darren?…a net 1%! Hardly ‘serious’ growth! And don’t quote the 4% growth from the Ministry of Misinformation…cos it’s rubbish. And provable rubbish….
Are we Darren?…a net 1%! Hardly ‘serious’ growth! And don’t quote the 4% growth from the Ministry of Misinformation…cos it’s rubbish. And provable rubbish….spin and lies.
yeah Darren I’m sure all the mortgage holders facing homelessness with their families in Ireland are delighted with what enda and co have done for them. reading about how great things are while your faced with the reality of a bleek future doesn’t really do it. the fact is that we have huge debts imposed on us for decade’s through the bankers and our govt incompetent actions.
The cost of building has skyrocketed due to the high standard of energy efficiency etc, a building must have.
Yeah Darren. It’s a bit like being punched in the back of the head by your neighbour and having your money stolen from him. Then you move and your new neighbour whacks you in the back of the head with a baseball bat,takes your house from you and gives you a Panadol, telling you it’s for your own good.
Something for Tsipras to wipe his hoop with…
It will be rough for Greece but its better than economic depression without end in the Euro for them.
Reality is catching up with the Euro.
“Iceland are doing grand now”.
What?! Stop forming definitive statements based on the headline of a Facebook article someone shared!
The Icelandic Kroner is still trading at 50% of its pre-crisis level. They have experienced mass emigration of their young. They are growing year on year, true, but they are light years from where they were and their people are burdened with debts which are tied to inflation (in a county with obscenely high inflation rates), crippling them.
So can people stop suggesting that Iceland discovered some miraculous cure. GDP growth is easy if you fall far enough first, just look at Ireland.
Here is reporting journal https://www.facebook.com/tigerrebornireland/videos/935564883173516/?fref=nf
Of course there is growth and recovery, it is obvious. What is less clear is how people could expect Ireland’s situation to have gone from absolutely dire to completely perfect overnight. All things considered, we are doing all right.
Greece on the other hand – well they have a leader playing Russian Roulette with his people’s futures while trying to insulate himself from any blame by putting the matter to a Referendum that it is simply unfair to expect people to decide upon. Even if the plan works and greece gets a better deal, which looks increasingly unlikely, , placing the welfare of people at such risk is criminally irresponsible.
Then again at least the Greek people will be able to console themselves with tales of their brave leader when the birthplace of Western civilisation slides into abject poverty.
17,000 people. That’s good counting. Over here nobody can say if there was 10,000 or 50,000 when there is a protest.
Kenny the traitor should mind his own business. Hope grease votes no.
The only one’s who take Kenny serious are his Paisley minions.
Sorry Paid
Greece
grease? Ffs it’s Greece.
Tom watch your laungage not good for blood pressure
Sorry Mary I did put Greece in but my phone changed it. Journal will you ever put a edit button in to correct mistakes
All taxpayers of Europe hope Greece vote no too
Your obsessed with taxes and tax payers.. you must of not got the job you really wanted
I urge Kenny to return to negotiations.
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
No To Eu there is no democracy in the eu
The Looney Left in Greece is about to hit the self-destruct button.
By the way, this turmoil is destructive to the Irish economy and our borrowing costs, not to mention our prospects of being repaid our loans to Greece.
Sure were turning the corner says fg labour and thanks to ff any one thats indebt will under stand this http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/ireland
Yawn Diarmuid, have you a bout of amnesia there pal? Was it the “looney” left who caused the financial mess? Was it the looney left that forced taxpayers to bail out banks and bond holders? Nope, it wasn’t, it was the self righteous right, but don’t let the facts get in the way of your selective memory.
Kenny has made paupers of the Irish people by his slaveish adoration of Fuhrer Merkel.
He is best boy in class, teachers pet at our expense. How in the name of God did this
useless article get to where he is.I feel ashamed to be from the same country as he is.
Supernova, speak English please!
Greece is the word, it’s the word that you heard…….
It’s autocorrect…..chill
no,I think you said what you meant
@Gus If you are ashamed of being Irish then get out… Your negative, sniping, depressing opinion is not what this growing economy needs… and is a symptom of the past
Except Irish borrowing costs fell yesterday… and the value of the euro increased
Well that’s made the blood boil on a Tuesday morning!
Greece is the time, it’s the place, it’s the motion and Greece is the way we are feelin’……
That money was recklessly lent to Greece
Look the government says the country is booming, so it must be true, unfortunately no mention of the increased cost of living, the lower wages, the cuts to welfare and increased taxes.
Thanks to f.g and lab implementing the programme for government decided by the troika and agreed by f.f. We as a country are expierencing unprecedented growth we will soon see that the celtic tiger was only a domestic cat, as we expierence the celtic lion with the economic genius Enda at the head of the pride.
there was no reckless lending. there was/is a plan to over extend peripheral states with cheap money until the time waa/is ripe to foreclosures and allow the troika in so they can basically rule these states with financial bullying and coercion. .
I’d sooner be a looney leftie than a psycho Right-winger.
Michael Johnson, only saying what I see, stop pretending everything is OK, its not, just ask all those people whose houses are being repossessed for starters.Until we ditch the Euro the country will be in debt for generations, and yes I have already left!
Tell him where to go, there must be something in it for the fat cats of Ireland, the only reason Kenny would be near it
Kenny is so deep up Merkel derriere. It’s pathetic. The little knob. I’m on the Greeks side. Hope they give Geary the finger
Dump the Greeks out! They cooked the books to join the EU, they got billions & don’t want to pay it back! Now they want the European taxpayers to pay their bills for them while they don’t want to pay taxes themselves. They tried to hold Europe to ransom & put us all at risk buts it’s backfired. All the result of populist leftwing policies…..
That’s some mouthful coming from someone calling themselves ” protect democracy”????? Is that the fascist ideology?
Irish tax payers pay they bills for speculative investors. The EU has held the to ransom. The government rolls over and allows the Germans to tickle their belly. The highest levels of homelessness, child poverty, patients on hospital waiting beds and of course suicides witnessed in my lifetime at least. All the result of typical populist ring wing politics….
Affinity… You probably get a lot of things free yourself, hence your opinion
Greece is in trouble because of bad political decisions in the past, not by anything the present govt there has done. The EU surely has to shoulder a lot of the blame for allowing a member to get into such trouble. I pity those in it’s society that have endured years of austerity throughout their school and early adulthood with zero prospects or hope. I think their present government and it’s policies are the only chance they will get.
Ahh, the old “You should have known better than to lend to the likes of me!” defence.
Protect Democracy……. your well known on here, and other social media outlets, as a well paid FG Troll, on your bike.
Ha Ha , conjoured up images of Kenny as Merkels Tramp Stamp…hilarious
Grimes – the SF keyboard warrior who brands anybody who disagrees with SF a FG troll! Worrying times for Grimes as the latest polls show SF continues in free fall. The Marxists in Greece have warned people what they can expect if SF get in to power here. This is all more than likely over your head Grimsey!
People in glass houses shouldn’t throw bricks, but then you don’t deny being a troll…
Kenny is looking at an EU job when he finished as Taoiseach.
If the EU hadn’t of been promising to fatten so many pockets over the years how many actually would have supporter the creation of the Euro.
Goldman sach cook their books fg buddies.Dont blame the people blame the banks and past politicians ff fg labour
The whole EU negotiation is one of Hypocrisy, piling debt onto countries without the infrastructure to repay. Germay only needs to look back to the assistance given and debt write off it received in re balancing, to understand where the Greeks are coming from. For Kenny to ask them to come back to the negotiating table to be subjected to the same old rhetoric is plain stupid. Its time to call game on the Euro political vanity project, and recalibrate Greece future. The quicker the better for all.
“Dump the Greeks out! They cooked the books to join the EU, they got billions & don’t want to pay it back!” -You’re one of these bright lads that we find on the Journal site .
When did they find out that they ‘cooked’ the books ? Was it before or after that they lent them all this new monies ? -You’re a bright lad -just wanted to say that again .
Protect Democracy! What you say repeatedly on this forum is the biggest load of tripe you come back with these personal cowardly retorts every time under your fake profile, it’s utterly pathetic and no ones cares for your opinion.
He should of sent him this link as well:
People ….people. Ends didn’t write this letter and never does . It’s constructed by the Sivil serpents and then signed by Kenny . He wouldn’t have the rains to put this together .
Brains even ….
If Enda’s telling you to return to negotiations, it’s time to run a mile in the other direction!
Balls are not something our Enda possesses…time to whip out your kahunas Greece and show him how it’s done.
If someone in the EU could point out that Greece will have any economic benefit in returning to these negotiations.
Growth lies outside of the Euro for many countries,
It is a currency for a few States and their needs but used by 19 States overall.
What a disaster it has been for the continent and its people.
Enda – the great clueless bluffer. Greece have enough problems without listening to his skewed spoofing.
“Kenny urges Greece to return to negotiations as Tsipras stands firm” – Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….!!!
The real question is who this mysterious petit blond woman Loula Bakrina is to be giving comments? A quick google search has her quote popping up all over the place but no further info. Suspect plagiarism at hand once again.
Kenny urging common sense, but kennys common sense is urging the ordinary people of greece to surrender to the EU, IMF and germanys demands, to accept potentially decades of austerity, to pay back this massive debt which was actually created by the horrendous mistakes of the politicians themselves, which is what, i’m ashamed to say, ireland has already surrendered to doing. To add insult to injury then, our useless politicians walk around brazenly as if they done nothing wrong and make themselves among the highest paid politicians in the world! Am i having some stupid nightmare or something, because to anyone with real common sense, it just sounds so wrong.
Enda Kenny is took his country from the brink of bankruptcy to a place where we’ve the fastest growing economy in Europe and unemployment is below the EU average. Tspiras, on the other hand took Greece from where the green shoots of recovery were showing to a place where you can only get €60 out of bank machines each day and where the country is about to be turfed out of the Eurozone. He’d do well to listen.
Lots of red thumbs, yet no one able to dispute that Ireland is in full recovery mode. Odd, that. Ireland’s cost of borrowing actually DROPPED yesterday in the wake of the Greek news- which should be a source of great pride for us. How sad so many on here prefer to talk down our country’s achievements over the last 4 years. We’ve staged nothing short of a spectacular comeback. But so many here prefer the narrative of a destitute nation living on the breadline.
We have David. The irish people did that all on their own. The politicians just kept on heaping on the pressure & we as a people took it. If you think that has been done without a cost to us you are extremely niave. We complain & rightly so & some of us stand by the Greeks to do the same.
Enda took us nowhere. Where we are is down to the pain endured by the people. There is no leadership in this country. A weak euro against Sterling and the Dollar precisely because of a weak economy is a bigger factor – and that’s something that Enda has nothing to do with it.
Then why can’t I afford to pay my bills (sorry, all the new taxes)
Our great recovery has done nothing for the majority in ireland, still paying bucketloads of taxes, no prospect of buying a house, rising rents, increased homelessness and mental health issues due to increased financial strain. What recovery? I don’t see it.
The only reason Kenny wants Greece to capitulate is because Ireland did and he doesn’t want to appear to be a weakling
And so was the craven FF government before them.
I hate it when Enda writes to people, it’s the red crayon, it’s embarrassing.
LOL
Enda Kenny giving advice to Greece? Might serve him better to get his own country in order http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/ireland
You obviously didn’t watch how the video how explains how it works……
Mr Kenny does not want Greece to succeed, there’s democracy, the EU,and the type of person he is for you.
Whatever else is going on in Greece, it cannot be called a success. on any level. And no matter what happens on Sunday that won’t be a success either.
Maybe they should set up an unconstitutional Economic Management Council – three teachers and an accountant are surely better than a world-class economist at this stuff…
Monday is shave Your mammys beard night Alan ya little Fine Gael ass lick.
You should probably put the paint thinners away.
Aww… Dave doesn’t like democracy.
Careful with your backing up there Alan, you nearly hit me.
What ever is going on in the Eurozone cannot be called a success either.
A complete economic mess is the best way to describe monetary union.
Lola Bakrina a petit blonde, Really what has the woman hair colour or height/size got to with anything? Lola Bakrina a concerned citizen or Lola Bakrina a worried mother would have been more respectful. Did the journalist time travelled from a 1970s tabloid?
Haha exactly what i was thinking. It has no relevance to the story
So kenny is basically saying roll over and do what your told. Wouldn’t expect anything less!
Hopefully that letter went straight in the bin, it ain’t worth reading!
Why wouldn’t you screw your people and come back to the euro trough where we borrow like billyo to keep paying ourselves obscene salaries and pensions and keep our banker buddies in business while selling our children and wage earners down the swanney to pay for it all. Greece finds itself in this situation because of political corruption for decades. It was time someone shouted stop.
The Greeks wont listen to Kenny, they know he earns €100,000 a year more than their Prime Minister only because he has done what he’s been told by his boss in Frankfurt and they’re desperate now to get away from Frankfurt.
Anyway they know that Kenny and Noonan were the most enthusiastic when it came to kicking them.
It’s obvious even looking through the Greeks body language.. They think he’s a complete Muppet. They don’t listen to a word he says, and then we have enda on the other hand thinking he’s the big man patting the Greeks back saying just go to the negotiating table.. We have to do what the elite say
Kenny, Noonan, Burton and Howlin, as the members of the unconstitutional EMC should be tried for treason.
I often get the impression that Kenny just does what he’s told and Noonan is still the party leader in all but name
Check out Noonan and his declared interests on the government’s website, he is a bond holder and that is a fact.
Don’t underestimate the perniciousness of Noonan, hes a real right wing kook. Eoin O duffy would actually be proud of him.
Kenny is just happy to be a part of something.
Kenny is just a little boy who does everything he’s told and gets a pat on the head for being good. Wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Noonan is the party leader. Wouldn’t be surprised if he (or someone other than Kenny..) actually wrote this letter either.
Radical left!? The media try to make them out to be extremists or dangerous using terms like that..they should use terms like extreme right or neo-liberal when talking about FG and the other right wing European parties and their policies..
Politicians representing the will of the people and the common good is pretty radical and extreme in todays environment.
#IRELANDSTANDSWITHGREECE
Syriza are borderline communist with close links to Putin.
I have been following them for years ( If thats worth anything to you, I guess not) they have absolutely no links to Putin. Putin is a megalomaniac freak who is a borderline fascist. Whether the Greek government has to deal with Russia in future for aid or trading or whatever, I dont know, I’m guessing they might.
Regards communism, well I guess they are, in the same way I would consider myself a communist in some regard. Communism is socialism to most socialists, and it is in no way corrupt. I believe you may have a different interpretation to me of what communism/leninism/marxism is though.
I’ll just say this one more thing, an I say it in total faith,you and others may not believe in leftwing politics, and that is obviously a legitimate stance, but Syrzia are men of integrity. Everything they are doing, they are it because they believe it is the best thing to do for the people of greece.
I have seen a lot of spoofer leftists emerge throughout Ireland/europe/the world over my lifetime, Syrzia arent one of them.
The spineless one has no shame.Hopefully Greece set a precedent and in a double whammy we get rid of the despised Fine Gael and out of Europe in the one swift move.
I hope he tells that spineless worm kenny to eff off and mind his own effing business.
It would suit kenny better to grow a pair and lead the country that believed his bull from the front and not from behind an advisors skirts.
Greece’s position in our currency union is our business.
….and Kenny said “Alexis…I used ‘Preparation H’ to get over the Trichet pain and a ball gag while Angela sucked me dry….the only exciting things to happen in my 40 yrs of political life”
The eurozone agenda of debt control is pure evil. Luke flanagan was right when he said that if you are in an abusive & manipulative relationship, there is only one right thing to do: get out. Its never easy, but it’s the right thing to do. For the sake of your Sanity. For the sake of the future. For the sake of the next generation. Slavery has a bad taste throughout history. Its still here. Today it’s been done through debt. I have sympathy for the Greek situation. Many are describing Syrzia as destructive lunatics, when actually all they are doing is standing up to the eu, austerity & resisting dictatorship. I fully support their stance. This evil agenda has to be resisted somewhere & our leaders didn’t have the backbone to do it. Instead they rolled over & insisted we’ve done a great job & everythings great now. Our debt in late 2008 was €64billion. Today it is approx €200billion. Our external debt as a % of GDP was 12.5% in 1998. Today it stands at approx 1400% (2014 figures) Who really are the deluded ones here??
People are failing to take into account/understand, the Eurozone/Eurogroup.
It is not simply a case of Greece. Every other government, especially France and Germany actively encouraged Greek Governments to take all these bailouts under the banner we are all in this together. They activly encouraged them to go with the IMF as well.
They then were full aware of state contracts whereby huge Greek military budgets were spent on French and German official contracts. The germans were well aware of the huge market for brand new german cars from greek people who should not be able to pay for them.They were aware of Siemens bribing Greek officials for contracts, etc. So they were well aware that huge corruption was endemic in the old greek governments but they extended ( with active encouragement) them loans anyway.
So it is not as black and white as you believe. Eurozone ( Really just Germany and France) willingly gave what they knew to be irresponsibly spent loans to Greece, they knew a large proportion of these loans went straight back into their own economy’s. They knew this prolonged the euro experiment, they also knew that they would get these loans back with handsome interest.
Irresponsible/pernicious loansharks are just as responsible as those who don’t repay.
It’s important for people to realize that 93% of all loans went straight back out of Greece.
Empathy, Justice, solidarity, (Feel free to add your own buzzwords) Will win out in the end.
Who’s this ‘we’ people, pale face?
We? Paleface?
deleted comment, Calvin. Flaw of the journal – comment gets deleted, replies are orphaned. Its a bit odd at times
Alright, but if you EVER call me paleface again….
:)
Calvin…..PALEFACE. X 100!
I nope the Greek people realise that Enda Kenny is no longer trusted by Irish people, he was elected to do exactly what what the Geewk Prime Minister is doing, for better or worse he has the integrity to do what he was democratically elected to do. Enda did the opposite. Enda and FG preaching to the Greek people is pathetic. He has lost the votes of a lot of Irish people simply by his behaviour on the last few days.
We see in the news that the irish gov, the EU leaders and IMF, describe the greek gov as radical and even extremist, but the majority opinion could suggest the exact opposite, that the EU, IMF, irish gov are showing themselves up to be something like an extremist pro austerity euro group.
So, yes, the extremists definitely need to be stopped.
It’s amazing how accurately the media can report a supposed low turnout figure .
“Great empathy for Greece and its people “!?!! HAHA he has some nerve, and is a complete stranger to truth.
€100 a deal will be done before week is out, Hermans and Grench ( Germans and French) despite their bluster can afford Greece to exit as it sets a precident for the other PIIGS swiftly followed by Brexit – Germany would be screwed as all countries would be in default and probably reject the bailout loans in the courts as unconstitional and forced under duress and reserves exhausted, they are playing a dangerous game and they know it.
The postering at the moment is to come out with a deal Germans and Greeks can take to parliment that wont be rejected as otherwise they are staring into an abyss.
How much 3rd world debt has been written off?? What makes Greece so special??
As if the Greek Minister is going to listen to that weasel kenny.lol
Tspris seems to be under the impression that if Greece votes No that all of a sudden the creditors will throw their hands in the air and go “ok you win”. It just shows just how out of touch with reality Syriza really is.
What will happen is the creditors will declare a default. Greece will be declared Bankrupt and the ECB will set the wheels in motion to expel Greece from the Euro. The Greek people will then know what Austerity really is. Greece will have to go back to using the Drachma which will be worthless outside of Greece. Imported goods and fuel will rocket in price, inflation will begin rise exponentially making domestic goods more expensive.
A prime example of what happens when you put an incompetent Socialist Government in charge is Venezuela. Hyper inflation, a worthless currency, shortages of practically everything in the shops, electricity blackouts, rampant crime. And Venezuela has Oil. All Greece has is Olive Oil.
The signs are clear, there is a deliberate attempt to create a separation between Greece and the rest, this is coming to a head, Europe is ready to cut Greece loose.
…and all Ireland has is turf and water. We’re banned from harvesting one of those, and charged for the other.
Hi could you link to your sources as to what will happen when Greece defaults, thanks
Watcher. We paid our debts. We took our pain. Greece has had two bailout’s already and is still playing silly buggers in not dealing with its own domestic affairs. They are like a dole scrounger. Always looking for the handout but not prepared to work for it.
They are trying to play poker but they have no chips or even any cards.
It’s more like Jenga that they are trying to play, and I sincerely hope they win.
Thomas just look a Venezuela. It will give you all you need to know.
Mick – We paid someone else’s debts. We haven’t even been given the courtesy of knowing whose penis has been in our anus. Greece, to paraphrase Full Metal Jacket, are insisting on at least a reach around from Mary Jane Rottencrotch…
You blatantly don’t have a clue what you’re talking about Mick.
Thanks
Mick, your ignorance of the situation shows clear. The ECB has no authority to push any country out of the euro. Venezuela is completely different to the Greece situation and is incomparable. Greece will stay in the Euro, it’s not requesting to leave. They cannot be thrown out or pushed out. They will get debt write down to the tune of €150billion. If you are following this “crisis” you will know that the ECB is already factoring in a debt write down to prevent contagion and save the euro at all costs. The EU is beginning to show its cracks, UK in out referendum, Danes are now calling for an in out referendum, Austrians pushing for an in out referendum and now, Le Pens Front National in France is calling for an in out referendum on the EU. This is beginning of the end for the euro and the EU as we currently know it. Good riddance to it.
Watcher. I believe the current interest we have to pay on Government bonds is around 0.5% from at its peak at 8%-9%. Greece is owes its Government Bond holders 14% interest and rising.
Because we have shown the financial markets across the globe that we do pay our debts no matter how painful it is they now are willing to buy our bonds in the knowledge that they will get a return on their money. And we are currently one of only a few countries in Europe that has shown steady growth.
Take a night off Jordan ,black belt in subtle Fine Gael trolling.
Ian where did I say that the ECB would do the actual pushing. I said they will set the wheels in motion. As for Greece staying in the Euro after defaulting how are they going to do that when there will be no funds from the Euro zone banks flowing into the country. How will they pay people? How will they pay for their imports. They will be utterly broke.
And yes Venezuela is a different situation. Because as I have said at least they have oil to generate funds. Greece doesn’t.
So, again, Mick – who’s penis was it?
You said it in your first comment above. “ECB will set the wheels in motion to expel Greece from the Euro” Can you not even remember what you say??? Just watch how the ECB will have to jump to help Greece. Just like the ECBs recent quantative easing AKA pressing keys on a computer and printing money out of thin air.
Venezuela nationalised oil companies. Neither Ireland nor Greece have that option.
Mick, while your comparison with Venezuela is somewhat correct, Greece have a wonderful safe tourism infrastructure, something other defaulters in the past(esp in S America) didn’t have. Back to Drachma at say entry level (341dr-€1), would make them competitive, have influx of Foreign Currency and although seasonal, would bring high levels of employment and hence tax revenues. Add to that the Greek superior and historical natural ability in Shipping and as you say, it will be very hard, but not impossible, for them to become a solvent country once again. The biggest hurdle will be the changing of ‘public servant’ mindset and their expectations ( as in Ireland today also) re salary, working hours, pension expectations etc.
Mick, I’d go for inexperienced rather than incompetent, yes, Venezuela has oil but Greece has something much more valuable to those western powers which brought it into the european community in the first instance, it has a border with eastern europe and it’s democratically elected government are possibly going to get a financial package from their Russian near neighbors, this possibility will be sufficient to ensure the western powers bend themselves backwards to bring Greece back into their fold.
no enda,he won’t have the Greek people bending over and tell them to take it for your country.
It is actually very important that the government makes plenty of comments such as these. Sure, it may not help their popularity at home, but it highlights to investors that Ireland is different to Greece and not likely to go the same way. A Greek exit is likely, and if it happens, in the interests of this country, we needs the instability to go with it and we need to minimise the infamous ‘contagion’.
Well done the Greeks! A proud people. Tell Europe to go f#<k itself!
About time someone did!
Talk about a recovery all day long. Hoodwinked I would say. Greece is dead right. You can’t take something from nothing. What do the European politicians want ? Greece to be the peasant nation.
We should have stood shoulder to shoulder with Greece..
They in Europe have done eventing in there power to protect money in banks. Q.E guaranteeing the banks. But is not protecting the people the Greece.
Endas condescending letter is embarrassing what an arse hole.
European Parliament is a bunga bunga for our reject politicians. I want out of Europe. Great neighbours but we should all be responsible for our own ship. Sending donkeys to Brussels make noise but not change.
Kenny already betrayed Ireland without him pushing another leader to betray his people. He was hired on a mandate. Unless the people change that mandate he should stick to his guns
The mind actually boggles at the way some of you are cheering the Greeks on their way to comitting economic and financial suicide. Its as if you were cheering on someone standing on the roof of a 10th story building getting red to jump and what’s worse is you are telling each other we should have done the same.
Fck off Jordan you remind me of the school rat.And being a screw,if you are that,dosen’t give you the divine right to pontificate here expecting readers to believe your pro Fine Gael agenda.
Your not looking a the biggest picture Jordan. Their doing what they have been elected to do! Stand up for the people who have voted for them.. sad to say that every government in Ireland that i can remember has done nothing but the exact opposite. So if your not that narrow minded they’re not committing economic suicide.. They’re showing that you can stand up for yourself.. No matter what the outcome they’ve shown a lot of positives already
Of course we should have. the only way the Euro can work is with separate zones – a single economy can only work if we have exactly that. Tying all the various economies to Berlin is bound to fail. It’s not realistic to apply centre-west European socio-economic models to all of Europe and expect success.
Easy to write that shite when you have a big fat salary and guaranteed pension compliments of the Irish tax payer.
Massive respect and admiration for The Greek government and it’s people rejecting austerity to be totally admired as opposed to spineless worms in Ireland who roll over and allow a crooked shambolic government to impose more and more austerity, you’ve learned serious lessons If you voted for the main protagonists FF /FG /Labour
They’re ‘rejecting austerity’ because they’ve ran out of other people’s money.
It’s ok Greece let your people pay off the loans for the next 3 generations incurring hardship and cuts along the way, the word according to Enda Kenny. The Greek Government are keeping their election promises no wonder Irish politicians don’t understand.
Kenny should not bother. At this stage just kick them out of Euro and EU. He is wasting his time trying to convince them otherwise.
Greece now needs to create its utopia , and all the hard left can go live there. Away from all the trappings of capitalism, like decent schools, healthcare, stable currency.
Stable currency??
You do know what’s going on, yea?
When the drachma gets introduced. Which would you want in your pocket, Euros or drachnas?
Easy question really.
That’s not what you said, you described the euro as a stable currency, which is preposterous really.
Of course the Drachma will not be an easy transition, I don’t think anyone thinks that.
When referring to Greece and currency, you only have two options.
What else could I be saying?
So yes, statement still stands, a more stable currency.
Again, you didn’t say a more stable currency, you said a stable currency, and there’s no way that statement stands up to any scrutiny.
You are tripping over your own words now and you are about to be arguing with yourself, because there’s no point in conversing with someone who refuses to stand behind his own statements, let alone his beliefs.
“Stable” “more stable” your reaching now. If your starting to split hairs like that… Well, it says volumes on your argument.
For me, both statements still stand if you really want to split hairs.
Germany must be ‘Greasing’ Kenny’s palm, for him to write such a letter.
It would suit Enda to come home here and sort out the problems in this country. Instead of blindly marching ignoring the facts here. This country is crippled. Yet he can’t see it. Then we have the Moron Hogan partying it up in Italy while around him countries are crumbling. So much for him being a Godsend in Europe. I would love to know who write the comedy script because it’s not funny.
If Greece sticks to its guns, the FG-Labour government will be exposed for what it is. A bunch of highly unqualified people, inept at the duties their portfolios demand of them. We need a system whereby ministers have profound knowledge and experience directly relevant to their portfolios. Lenihan, may he rest in peace, was no match for financial behemoths the likes of Schäuble. Misinformed by our own banks and lacking Big-Boy prowess in the world of international finance, the guy was a sitting duck and, by association, so was Ireland. We need political reform and politicians who know their chosen areas. Not gombs running off to funerals kissing arses and shaking babies.
I wonder if jobbridge scheme is part of the IMF bailout deal with Greece, if it is I would vote no in referendum
In this country when we went broke we wrote off billions owed by property speculators paid them up to €200.000 per year for to over see this destruction while we paid the people who lost their jobs who had worked for them €188 per week. Taxed and burned the ordinary people the wise ones left our shores and we think we have been successful.
Our court system puts a man in jail because he could not pay his tax bill out of social welfare.
And we are successful, Germany is a successful nation only because of debt write off.
Germany now wants to enslave the Greek people and we enslave our people here with taxes and prison if you can’t pay
If we believe we are successful if we believe our governments have created a fair society then all I can deduce we as a society are blind delusional and beyond redemption.
For the vast majority of our people things are a mess. If you have a good income things are fine like the policy makers and enforcers like the judiciary . But the facts tell us our society is in a mess because of German enforced austerity
How much it cost us the tax payers of Ireland for that little pri#k to get that letter written as he wouldn’t know how to write a letter like that
Probably would have been a one liner if he wrote it ‘Toddle along now and submit’
It’s pretty simple. Case 1:Greece rejects negotiations and default and the creditors get no more money. Case 2: Greece is plunged into further austerity trying to pay back the loans, we end up where we are again 2 years from now. The debt per gdp ratio is 175%. Which is unsustainable. Greece’s government has made the correct decision to go to referendum. A mandate is needed to ratify either decision as it will undoubtably have a massive impact on the future of the country. The only solution to this problem is massive debt forgiveness and reform within the financial system of Greece so it can avoid this calamity in the future. The banks will take a massive hit but if the EU doesn’t want these banks to fail causing a catastrophe, let them recapitalise them. The taxpayers of Europe take a hit for 3 years but the EU will survive and the banks will stabilise in a few years also.
Before you ask why should the rest of Europe foot the bill for Greece’s debt, ask yourself why Ireland was asked to repay the debt of its private sector banks. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Wow a politician with balls, finally someone is doing what they were voted in to do, it might not be pretty but they will probably be better off in the long run
kenny embarresses the Irish people yet again
Enda, our Taoiseach, here proves he is, either a liar or as thick as champ.
‘your decision to break off these negotiations’, where a head of state is asked by the ‘president’ to leave the negotiations they cannot be blamed for breaking off the same.
Tsipras has a pair, Kenny and his minions never did.
“Drop Greece’s debt”… And while your at it drop Ireland’s debt, and the debt of all third world countries, in fact drop my debt also. Why not drop everybody’s debt? Surely thats how the world should work. Its about time Greece took some responsibility. To incur debt one has to borrow. Thats a simple fact of life. If you borrow more than you can pay back, then who’s truly at fault? Banks with their cheap credit yes, to a degree. However there’s such a thing as responsible borrowing as well as responsible lending. No more than here, nobody put a gun to anyone’s head and said “Borrow”! Grow up Greece
So, in 2 or 3 years time, when greeces economy is restructured, free from debt, the greek comedians and politicians will be having a field day out of this letter from this irish EU muppet! Joke of the century!
What is it, A4, cause tsipras could make a decent paper airplane with it, otherwise, its a pure waste of paper!
Interesting to see whats playing out in Greece now.
It’s exactly what would have happened had the ‘Technical Group’, SF et al had their way & we 2 fingers to Europe 3 years ago.
Watch Greece crash & burn now – for Syriza, this is now about political survival, nothing else.
Utterly ridiculous that they are calling a referendum at 5 to midnight. They were elected by the people to govern & make decisions, & now to protect themselves they are asking the people to make the decision, so that they can’t be blamed, when ‘freedom’ comes with Grexit.
Austerity within the euro will be luxury compared to what will happen to Greece if they revert to drachma.
“Yet the United Kingdom cannot sign a commercial trade accord with China. Nor, for that matter, with any other country. We surrendered that power on 1 January 1973, the day we joined the EEC.” The thing is the same with every E.C. / Eurozone country and remember imports and exports from jobs would hurt austerity? So the E.U. controls what jobs comes here…
Bit ironic dont you think that the decendents of the Huns and Vandals are trying to bully Greece, the inventors of democracy into line…
have your say