THE DIRTY DOZEN - w/e Aug 26th 2012

Late last week our media went to war again on behalf of the government, scaremongering about possible cuts in local services because of the continuing non-registration by a huge number of home-owners for the Household Charge tax, a reported shortfall of €60,000,000. Street-lights would be turned off, they warned, ambulance services cut - a blatant effort to turn neighbour against neighbour.

 Such a pity the same media won't go to war on behalf of the people. Have a look at the bonds below, the next 12 bonds due. Have a look at the bond at the top of the list - €600,000,000, Anglo, Sep 3rd, ten times the Household Charge shortfall. A zombie bank owned in its rotten entireity by us, the people. Have a look at the bond due on Oct 1st, one billion euro - €1,000,000,000; that's with AIB, which we own 99.8%. Just two bonds, a total of €1,600,000,000 over the next six weeks - that would turn on a lot of street lights, don't you think?

Where are you reading about this? Where are you reading that in just the list below, the next 12 bonds (I'd hate to publish here the full list), the total of unguaranteed bonds is €1,034,726,369. Nowhere, that's where.

You'll read that the most of the remaining bonds are guaranteed, as though that somehow should end all discussion - why? The next 12 bonds also have a total of €2,478,640,395 of various Covered bonds, including another billion euro from another bank we own, EBS - what does that mean, covered? Right from the first day Brian Lenihan offered the blanket bank guarantee, has ANY of that been legal? Brian was acting on false/incomplete/inaccurate information, €5bn he was assured the total exposure - how then can that guarantee have any basis in law?

Since then we've been blackmailed by the ECB into assuming the bank debt, even noted economist Colm McCarthy now joining us in proclaiming the injustice of this act. So why shouldn't we question the legitimacy of ALL these bonds? In Ballyhea we do, in Charleville we do, 77 weeks of protesting now; we'll continue to do so for as long as is necessary.