Ierland weerspreekt geruchten over steun (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A roll-call of Irish government ministers over the weekend denied reports that the country has begun talks on an EU-IMF bailout of up to €80 billion.
"We have not, contrary to much speculation, applied to join any facility, or avail of any facility," finance minister Brian Lenihan told Irish radio on Friday (12 November) after leading financial newswire Reuters first reported that clandestine bailout discussions are already under way.
Mr Lenihan was joined by the minister for tourism, Mary Hanafin, the minister for justice Dermot Ahern and the minister for trade and business, Batt O'Keeffe on Saturday and Sunday.
"It is fiction because what we want to do is get on with the business of bringing forward the four-year plan," Mr Ahern said on the RTE TV station's The Week in Politics show on Sunday evening. "There is nothing going on at the direction of Government in relation to this. I spoke to the Taoiseach this morning. I spoke with the Minister for Finance and absolutely nothing is taking place in respect of this."
The government denials were bolstered by statements from Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourgish chief of the eurogroup, the club of 16 countries which use the EU's single currency, and the IMF, both of which would have to be notified in the event of an Irish request.
"So far I haven't received any kind of request ... If at one point in time, tomorrow, in two months or two years, the Irish want support from the IMF, we will be ready," the international fund's chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said from Japan on Saturday.
The Reuters report continued to gain credibility from a number of other leading media, however.
The BBC on Sunday said "it is no longer a matter of whether but when" the Irish government applies for help, citing anonymous sources. The Financial Times Deutschland, the Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune have all said that preliminary talks between Ireland and its international counterparts are already under way.
The debate in Ireland has seen some opposition figures invoke the country's bloody struggle for independence from the UK as a reason not to reach out for help. The appeal to loss of sovereignty is a sign of the lasting political damage that the ruling centre-right Fianna Fail party stands to suffer in the event the bailout comes to be.
"We fought hard for our independence, and we should not hand it away," Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told the Irish Times on Sunday. "I think it is important that we, as a country, retain our economic independence and sovereignty."
The realities of living under an EU-IMF rescue can be seen in Greece where EU and IMF officials are due in Athens this week to help oversee the publication of the country's next budget on Thursday amid a continuing downturn in the Greek economy.
Reaction to the weekend's statements by bond traders when markets open on Monday morning could be crucial in determining the way forward for Dublin, analysts say. If Ireland's cost of borrowing climbs still further, the government may be forced to reach out for help to staunch the financial bloodflow.
EU officials have meanwhile spent the weekend preparing for regular meetings of eurozone and EU finance ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, which are set to shed more light on the situation.
Barclays Capital has estimated the cost of the Irish bailout at €80 billion to €85 billion. The money would come either from the European Commission's own €60 billion "community facility," which involves the UK, or from the joint EU-IMF €750 billion mechanism, which has no UK participation. An earlier EU-IMF Greek bailout of €110 billion is based on a separate facility again.