Marching For Exercise

Trade union members are tramping along the Bachelors Walk this lovely morning.

At least they're getting plenty of exercise. They won't get much else from their protest.

The pressure is on the Government to work out an austerity budget that will please the EU-IMF crowd. The four-year plan is needed by the end of today, give or take a few hours, so that the bailout can be deposited in the Exchequeur and the markets sufficiently calmed on Monday. Too much turmoil is not good for the markets, and the rest of the Eurozone will not tolerate more turbulence.

Sadly, it's the promises made to the unions that helped bring Ireland to the brink of bankruptcy. The costs of higher wages, early retirement, national health care and public housing cannot continue to be met in the face of reduced revenues.

Raise taxes on the rich and they either hide their money or move elsewhere. Raise the VAT and fewer people can afford to buy anything, which further damages the economy.

Meanwhile, the union members march to Ormond Quay, demanding that the Government listen to them, the electorate. It's gone too far, and the Government can only listen to the demands of the European Union that is paying for Ireland's underpinnings.

Billions to bail out the banks screams columnist Fintan O'Toole, but the little man is tethered to the big financial institutions and to save one is to save the other. It's the ugly side of capitalism at work, the opposite of the good times of big salaries and big houses and cars for everyone.

More for the working man and let the banks die of their own gluttony, the unions proclaim.

The working man was given too much, thanks to the Celtic Tiger that was fed by the same banks now failing. There's no more to give. Only so much meat can be picked off of dead bones, and the last scraps are gone.

Gardai are deployed, prepared to protect government buildings in event of rioting. There's already been rioting in Greece and England over budget cuts. The Irish aren't any more happy to find that the cupboards are bare and they won't get any more hand-outs.

The Government is taking its marching orders from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, not the people who elected them. Not unlike obtaining a mortgage, the bank tells you when you'll pay and how much you'll pay, or you can kiss the money good-bye.