The Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign, comprised of community, faith based, global justice, trade union and academic groups, has said that a potential government move to replace the Anglo promissory note payments with long-term sovereign bonds would be unacceptable.
Campaign spokesperson Andy Storey described the debt as “illegitimate – it was accrued to pay off the speculators who gambled their money on a dodgy bank now under criminal investigation, it is not the debt of ordinary people and should under no circumstances be reclassified as ‘sovereign’”.
Also speaking on behalf of the campaign, Marie Moran said that extending the period of time over which the debt might be repaid would “simply be pushing the burden onto future generations” and said “the promissory note payments should instead be suspended immediately, not restructured.”
Mr Storey said that if the government chose to rush emergency legislation through the Dáil and Seanad this evening on this basis, this would be “devious and undemocratic – instead of having a proper, informed debate about this hugely serious issue the government would be railroading through legislation that would see people living in Ireland take formal responsibility for debts that are not theirs to pay”.
Ms Moran called on all TDs and Senators to vote against any legislation that legitimises such a restructuring if it were put before them.
Notes
Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign is supported by the Debt Justice Action network, which consists of the following organizations: http://www.notourdebt.ie/supporting-organisations
A simple ‘questions and answers’ document on Anglo debt can be found at http://www.notourdebt.ie/faq
On Valentine’s Day, the Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign has called on the Irish Government to show people in Ireland that it “really cares” by suspending repayments of Anglo Irish Bank’s debts.
Press Release – Debt Justice Action