they can dish it out and they can take a bankruptcy, if they have to.
So, let's get it over with, is the message from the Emerald Isle.
but, what if they fall from grace with God? it's just banksters
checkitout: from Independent.ie
We will default, so let's get on with it
But it's not all bad -- a top financier thinks Ireland's glass is half full and our bank debts will be shared, writes Daniel McConnell
By Daniel McConnell
Sunday June 05 2011
Ireland will default, when it does happen we should not do it alone but with Greece and Portugal; we should consider leaving Europe given how badly they treat us; we need to take a scalpel to our public sector and Ireland will take five to seven years from now to recover.
Those are the views of Larry McDonald, former Lehman Brothers vice president turned international best-selling author, who was in Dublin last week speaking at the Irish Funds Industry Association.
McDonald was, until September 2008, vice president of distressed debt and convertible securities trading at Lehman Brothers. He was heralded by many colleagues at Lehman for both his early 2006 call on the subprime crisis and the $46m in trading profits realised from it.
I sat down with him on Friday afternoon last in the heart of the IFSC to discuss his take on Ireland's future. And while his stark outlook may shock many, his candid, no-nonsense pronouncements are exactly what we need to see more of from our Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his government ministers.
A respected commentator internationally, McDonald, who predicted the sub-prime crisis in the US, had just come from a meeting with Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan, who he described as "quite the poker player," when we met.
I began by asking him the biggest question. Will Ireland default or not? He was unequivocal in his answer.
"When you look at the way the bonds are trading, there will be haircuts [debt write downs], absolutely."
"These haircuts, which are called forbearance, is essentially extending the maturity. It's a technical default, but it's not a hard default."
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