Ireland passes bailout package despite opposition

Story at Yahoo!. It seems the Ireland national government has gone against popular opinion and approved the "bailout" deal struck between the Ireland government/banking system and the ECB. Now things should really start to heat up in Ireland. Excerpt:

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan pushed through the 85 billion euros package with the support of independent MPs and told the center-right Fine Gael party that its proposals to lean on senior bondholders would fail because of opposition from the European Central Bank. "Those who think we can unilaterally renege on senior bondholders against the wishes of the ECB are living in fantasy land", he said.

Well it looks like the political opposition at least has a handle on the nature of this screwdeal:

"You have the obscene situation now where the poorest of the poor in Ireland, through their taxes and welfare cuts, are being asked to guarantee the speculation of investors in hedge funds," Michael Noonan, Fine Gael's finance spokesman, and a possible future finance minister, said.

It is interesting that the political "right" in Ireland is in opposition to this unjust policy that strictly favors the banking sector and it's patrons. So at least this opposition party may get to reverse this decision but it not until another government can be established. It looks like this is far from a settled matter.