"A sad day for Ireland" as IMF officials in Dublin (News Feature)

By Fiona Smith Nov 18, 2010, 16:09 GMT

Dublin - The news Thursday that Ireland is expected to accept a multi-billion-euro loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) has left many in the country with a bitter taste in their mouths.

'It's a sad day for Ireland when we have to make our decisions with somebody else watching over our shoulder,' former prime minister John Bruton said.

Representatives from the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the IMF met with Irish officials in Dublin on Thursday in a bid to head off the cash-strapped nation possibly defaulting on its debt. Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan later told parliament that the government could accept an aid package for its banks.

'I am in despair over the fact that Ireland is ceding its sovereignty,' said Aileen Colbert, whose grandfather fought in the 1916 rebellion, which started the process of Irish independence from Britain.

Colbert told the national broadcaster RTE that the country's current government 'has ruined the country.'

'It did not tell us the truth about the banks. When you consider how much money we had, it's obvious that this situation was created by a lack of integrity by the banks and the developers,' she said.

The dreaded arrival of the IMF has been the bogeyman of Irish politics since the banking crisis exploded in September 2008 and the government issued a guarantee for all deposits in Irish banks.

Joe McGowan, an unemployed engineer in his 40s, thinks that is what led to the current difficulties.

'They ignored all the advice they were given at the time (of the banking crisis) and went ahead with guaranteeing the banks,' he told the German Press Agency dpa. 'My concern is that the government is still here, not that the IMF is here.'

He also questioned why the ECB wants to solve the debt crisis by lending the Irish government even more money to put into the banks.

'The government is like a rabbit caught in the headlights,' he added.

McGowan now feels he has no choice but to emigrate to find work.

'My fear down the line is that the education and health systems my children need will not be in place. The only option left for me is get work abroad,' he said.

Many worry that social welfare and public service wages are now going to be cut even more drastically than already anticipated in December's budget, which is to feature 6 billion euros (8 billion dollars) in cuts and savings.

'We are afraid of the IMF cutting our wages by as much as a third,' said Rachel Hegarty, a nurse at Cork University Hospital.

'My wages have been cut by 10 per cent over the last couple of years,' she added. 'We are afraid that more cuts will be made and we won't have any say in it.'

Isabelle Sutton, whose grandfather John A Costello, a former prime minister, declared the republic in 1948, phoned RTE radio's Liveline programme to express her sadness.

'It's a sad day for Ireland when the IMF are marching into Dublin,' she said.

'My grandfather was a real republican. I thought about him today and his declaration and what a state our country is now in. He was of a dying breed of politician, who didn't make a penny out of politics,' she added.

Sutton attributed the current crisis to greed.

'Money is the root of all evil. I am a solicitor myself and I look around at many people in the legal business that made a lot of money during the boom, but it was never, never enough. People started investing in consortiums abroad and now they too are facing ruin,' she said.

Sutton summed up the mood of the country by saying: 'I feel very, very let down.'