Sold down the river: Irish press condemn EU/IMF bailout

(DUBLIN) - Ireland's press condemned the bailout of their country Monday as a "scandal", saying it saddled Irish people with impossible levels of debt and effectively sold the country to international institutions.

"Sold down the swanny" headlined the Irish Daily Mail, adding in an editorial comment: "We are falling without a safety net.

"They demand the emptying out of the national piggy bank, the only substantial money we had left. We have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage (stew)."

The loans provided through the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, unveiled late Sunday in Brussels, are worth 85 billion euros (113 billion dollars). Much of this will go towards shoring up the struggling banks.

Dublin has agreed to contribute 17.5 billion euros to the loan facility and will raid its National Pension Reserve Fund and other domestic cash resources.

The Irish Sun said the deal "sentences us all to generations of horrific debt" and condemned the 5.8 percent average annual interest rate on the loans as "fairly punitive".

"It is pure fantasy to think the Irish people can afford to pay this bill. The taxpayer is being saddled with all the pain, while the bondholders get off scot free. It is scandal, pure scandal," it said.

The Irish Examiner took the same line, saying Ireland would be "crippled" by interest payments of ten billion euros a year.

"Instead of rescuing the state, it could scuttle it," it said, adding: "The interest rate leaves a financial burden that will wreak irrevocable damage on the fabric of Irish society for generations to come."

However, a couple of papers took a more pragmatic view.

The Irish Times called the bailout "a difficult but essential deal", saying: "The programme will be unpalatable to many people. However, the deal is better than no deal."

The Irish Independent said the interest rate was "disappointing" but insisted: "It must work, and somehow we must find the means to pay.

"We will face years of hardship but it is well to know the worst. We can win through."