Bruce Arnold

Critic of Public Affairs, writing about art, theatre, music and politics

We ignore legal challenge to ESM Treaty at our peril

There has been little praise for Thomas Pringle's legal action to try and stop the Government from its foolishness in seeking to push through the ratification of the ESM Treaty. And there has been virtually no interest in the media and very little intelligent comment.

Since early April, I have been writing about the Pringle challenge. His case was rooted in the idea that both Irish and European law were being breached in the interest of a new euro-centred group and not the whole EU, thus invisibly rewriting treaties. Our constitutional duty was to protect the (EU) Treaties as written and not defend the euro on behalf of the 17 euro states at the expense of the interests of the remaining 10 members who are not yet part of the euro. Read More...

Vague euro deal could create huge divisions in future of EU

Superficially we have gained from the European summit. The release of euphoria, as a result of being mentioned in the communique, pumped a much-needed spurt of adrenaline into the Irish political system. This was good for Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan.

However, what we will get from the deal is unspecified and probably quite limited. We still carry the burden of the ghastly mistake by Brian Lenihan. He was duped by the banks back in 2008. The debt imposed on tax payers is still there and, following the summit, we are likely to benefit from its attenuation rather than any cancellation. Read More...
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