'Frustrated' Ireland urges Greeks to keep negotiating
(DUBLIN) - The Irish government on Monday urged Greece to follow its example and keep working with its international creditors on averting a default and possible exit from the euro.
Deputy finance minister Simon Harris said he was "frustrated" by the hard-left Greek government's refusal to accept proposed reforms because it was elected earlier this year on an anti-austerity ticket.
"I get a bit frustrated when I hear about the democratic mandate of the Greek government. We all accept that but they also need to accept the democratic mandate of the other governments in the euro group," he told RTE radio.
Urging Athens to "come back into the room", he said: "We need the Greeks to come back and do what Ireland did.
"Ireland and Greece are very different but Ireland has shown that you can actually negotiate and you can grow your way out of your problems."
He added: "Ireland wants Greece to remain in Europe, Ireland wants to help Greece find a solution but you can't have a solution when people are refusing to engage."
Ireland's booming "Celtic Tiger" economy collapsed during the financial crisis and it was forced to accept a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
But after deep spending cuts, tax rises, structural reforms and the sale of state assets, the eurozone country is now growing faster than any other EU economy.
Sinn Fein, a socialist opposition party, was more sympathetic to Athens and accused the European Central Bank, EU and IMF of "holding Greece to ransom".
"This issue is more than just debt. It is about vested interests in the EU," said spokesman Pearse Doherty.
"We are not dealing with democracy here, but the politics of power and punishment. Here is a manufactured crisis. We are being shown who is in control."
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