Ireland: Hatred, disgust, anger -- Europe's feelings for us - by DANIEL McCONNELL

"OF course, Ireland has few friends in Europe  at present. You have bust banks, a broke economy and McCreevy was a   c*** when he was here," one senior diplomat exclaimed when asked of the true feeling towards our country.  "Ireland has lost much of the goodwill that once existed towards it and people here have run out of patience," said another.

Deep  within the cavernous Justice Lipse Building, directly across the road
from the iconic Berlaymont Commission Building, journalists from all
over the world and officials from member states awaited word from the
leaders who had been locked in session for over five hours.

Ireland faces the default option as Europe's leaders talk tough

As fears grow over the state of Ireland's banks, the demands by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy for an increase in Ireland's corporate tax are just a distraction from the real issue and won't fix the eurozone crisis.

The banking crisis in the country is getting worse, not better, and, it might be news to people outside of Ireland - but from where we sit, it is looking as if the €85bn (£73bn) deal constructed in November, has already failed.
Already on the agenda is talk of a requirement for yet more money for the country's failed banks.


For more: Ireland faces the default option as Europe's leaders talk tough | Business | guardian.co.uk

Ireland has only itself to blame for the costly bailout says Barroso - by Sarah Collins

The EU's top official has hit back at accusations that the EU-IMF bailout will cripple the Irish economy, saying it was Ireland's "fiscally and financially irresponsible" behaviour that caused the downfall in the first place.

In an uncharacteristic outburst European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso lashed out at MEP Joe Higgins yesterday after he accused the EU of "making vassals" of Irish taxpayers.

"The problems of Ireland were created by irresponsible financial behaviour of financial institutions and a lack of supervision in the Irish market," Mr Barroso hit back in an angry exchange. "Europe is now part of the solution. It was not Europe that created this fiscally irresponsible situation and this financially irresponsible behaviour."

For more: Ireland has only itself to blame for the costly bailout says Barroso - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

Germany Dismisses European Plan to Double Emergency Bailout Fund - by Maurus Walker and Matthew Karnitschnig

European leaders sparred over whether to commit more funds to rescue struggling euro-zone countries, as financial-market pressure on the region's weakest economies intensified.

The European Union's executive arm, the Brussels-based EU Commission, floated a proposal on Wednesday to double the size of Europe's €440 billion ($588 billion) bailout fund for euro-zone governments, but the idea was dismissed by Germany, according to people familiar with the situation.

The disagreement between Brussels and Berlin comes amid growing fears that the crisis of investor confidence in euro-zone governments, which has already forced Greece and Ireland to seek international bailouts, could expand sooner or later to Portugal and Spain.

For more: Germany Dismisses European Plan to Double Emergency Bailout Fund - WSJ.com

Euro licks wounds, finds support for now - by Hideyuki Sano

 The common currency ticked up on light buying back after Europe's inability to contain Ireland's debt woes had knocked it down 1.9 percent to as low as $1.3359 on electronic platform EBS.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the euro was in an "exceptionally serious" situation. Investors took aim at Spanish government bonds on Tuesday, driving the premium over German benchmarks to a euro lifetime high after Madrid was forced to pay a high cost to sell short-term bills.

 For more: Euro licks wounds, finds support for now | Reuters

Ireland: EU-IMF troika heading to Dublin to oversee budget preparations - by Leigh Phillips

Ireland's fiscal sovereignty was hanging by a thread late on Tuesday evening (16 November) as eurozone finance ministers announced that EU and IMF overseers were to head to Dublin to supervise preparations for a fresh round of cuts for the next four years to ensure that they are as deep as necessary.

The non-eurozone UK is reportedly under pressure to contribute to any deal, given the heavy exposure of British banks in Ireland, particularly RBS, although Prime Minister David Cameron has recently voiced support for the idea of bilateral financial support for its one-time colony. Shares in UK financial institutions have slid over the past week as a result of the tumult.

The drafting of a new four-year austerity budget, which looks to ratchet up the level of cuts - bringing the total level up to €20.6 billion since the end of 2008, or 13 percent of GDP - has for all intents and purposes been removed from the province of the nation's elected representatives and passed over to a troika of officials who will head to the Irish capital on Thursday to take a magnifying glass to the document.

For more: EUobserver / EU-IMF troika heading to Dublin to oversee budget preparations

EU Says It Remains Confident Ireland Will Meet Fiscal Targets - by Andrew Clapham

The European Commission is confident that Ireland will take the necessary measures to meet its fiscal targets, commission economics spokesman Amadeu Altafaj told reporters in Brussels today.

Altafaj said the commission has no further comment to make on Ireland’s economy shrinking 1.2 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter. The contraction in Irish gross domestic product was announced by the country’s statistics office yesterday.

For more: EU Says It Remains Confident Ireland Will Meet Fiscal Targets - BusinessWeek