Ireland

The Sovereign Debt Bubble Will Continue To Expand Until – BANG – The System Implodes

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– The Sovereign Debt Bubble Will Continue To Expand Until – BANG – The System Implodes (Economic Collapse, Jan 20, 2013):

Why are so many politicians around the world declaring that the debt crisis is “over” when debt to GDP ratios all over the planet continue to skyrocket?  The global economy has never seen anything like the sovereign debt bubble that we are experiencing today.  The United States, Japan, and nearly every major nation in Europe are absolutely drowning in debt.  We have heard a lot about “austerity” over in Europe in recent years, but debt to GDP ratios continue to rise in Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal.  In general, most economists consider a debt to GDP ratio of 100% to be a “danger level”, and most of the economies of the western world have either already surpassed that level or are rapidly approaching it.  Of course the biggest debt offender of all in many ways is the United States.  The U.S. debt to GDP ratio has risen from 66.6 percent to 103 percent since 2007, and the U.S. government accumulated more new debt during Barack Obama’s first term than it did under the first 42 U.S. presidents combined.  This insane sovereign debt bubble will continue to expand until a day of reckoning arrives and the system implodes.  Nobody knows exactly when that moment will be reached, but without a doubt it is coming.

Read moreThe Sovereign Debt Bubble Will Continue To Expand Until – BANG – The System Implodes

Horse Meat Scandal

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– Irish plant shuts over new horsemeat in burgers (Businessweek, Jan 18, 2013)

– Tesco withdraws over 10 million beef burgers in UK, Ireland after horsemeat discovery (allvoices, Jan 18, 2013)

– Horse meat supplier still operating in the Netherlands with authorities refusing to name and shame the Dutch company (Daily Mail, Jan 18, 2013)

?– Horse meat in supermarket burgers linked to Dutch suppliers (Telegraph, Jan 18, 2013)

– Horse Meat Found in Irish Beef Burgers (TIME, Jan 17, 2013?)

 

Ireland Copyright Battle: Newspapers Demand $400 For Sharing Links

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– Ireland copyright battle: Newspapers demand $400 for sharing links (RT, Jan 7, 2013):

The body representing Ireland’s main newspapers is demanding a minimum of $400 for third parties to directly link their articles, sparking an unprecedented copyright row which strikes at the very heart of sharing content on the World Wide Web.

Read moreIreland Copyright Battle: Newspapers Demand $400 For Sharing Links

The Economic Return Of Iceland Has Proved That The Joke Was On Ireland

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Flashback:

– The Icelandic Success Story

– Iceland’s Economy Now Growing Faster Than The U.S. And EU After Arresting The Banksters

– Here Is What Happens If You Do Not Bail Out The Banksters And Avoid Getting Raped By The IMF

– Two Thirds Of Icelanders Oppose EU Membership

– A Lesson For Europe: Why Iceland Won’t Join The Euro (Video)

– Iceland Once Again Tells IMF, UK, Netherlands To ‘Go to Hell’; ‘Ice Torture’ Repayment Scheme Collapses

– The economic return of Iceland has proved that the joke was on us (Irish Independent, Dec 16, 2012):

WAY back in the autumn of 2008, the joke in financial circles was that the only difference between Ireland and Iceland was a letter and six months. Now, with the Icelandic banks preparing to issue foreign currency bonds once again, it turns out that the joke was on us.

Remember when the Icelandics did the unthinkable and, unlike Ireland, told bank creditors to take a hike? They also imposed capital controls and allowed the value of their currency to fall – the Icelandic krona has lost almost half of its value against the euro over the past five years.

The “experts” queued up to assure us that these latter-day Vikings would be severely punished for their impertinence. While no one forecast that a hole would open up in the North Atlantic and swallow Iceland whole, some of the predictions came pretty darned close.

Meanwhile, we in Ireland did what we were told and repaid over €70bn of bank bonds at par. By doing so, even at the cost of bankrupting the State, the “experts” assured us that we would retain the confidence of the markets. Now, four years later, it is clear that, not for the first time, the “experts” have got it wrong. Catastrophically and utterly wrong.

Read moreThe Economic Return Of Iceland Has Proved That The Joke Was On Ireland

Gerald Celente Nov 5, 2012: ‘Crash, Depression, Currency War, World War’ (Video – 3/5 – German Subtitles)

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YouTube

Description:

Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute, at the Marriott Hotel in Munich, Germany, on November 3rd, 2012. Celente was holding a presentation later on on the Internationale Edelmetall- und Rohstoffmesse, the largest precious metals conference in Europe. You can find Gerald Celente at trendsresearch.com and trendsjournal.com.

Ireland Urges ECB To Commit To Bond-Buying

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– Ireland urges ECB to commit to bond-buying (Financial Times, Oct 26, 2012):

Dublin has asked the European Central Bank to commit to buying Irish government bonds to help smooth the country’s exit from its international bailout at the end of next year.Michael Noonan, Ireland’s finance minister, said on Thursday that the government had asked its international lenders to outline “confidence-building measures” to drive down Irish bond yields as it prepared its long-term return to markets.

Read moreIreland Urges ECB To Commit To Bond-Buying

Nigel Farage On The Total Subjugation Of Europe (Video)

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– Nigel Farage On The Total Subjugation Of Europe (ZeroHedge, Oct 23, 2012):

Forget black swans, Nigel Farage is rapidly turning himself into the black sheep of the EU Parliament with his constant stream of truthiness and honest pragmatism. It seems the broadly nodding-donkeys that fill the chamber remain cognitively dissonant to any and everything in the real world – hanging instead on the next soundbite from Van Rompuy or Barroso on how well things are going, or how the crisis is ‘almost’ over. If only the Germans would bless them all with their money. In one his plainest-speaking rants, Farage provides clarity to his ‘peers’ on just exactly what the bailouts of Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and soon to be Spain and Italy are actually about – the “total subjugation of the states to a completely undemocratic structure in Brussels.” Is it any wonder Samaras and crew – while happy to accept cash and make promises – are pulling away from yet another (this time is the last time) Troika-driven austerity push? “The euro-zone is in a very dark place; economically, socially, and politically.”

Some mind-blowing quotes in here as Farage refers to the leaders of Italy and Spain and their remarkable nonsense…

Listen to the entire 3:30 – it is frightening just what is occurring on the ground across the pond from a US nation with eyes only for the election for now…


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Gerald Celente: Criminal Banksters Launching World War III (Video)

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YouTube Added: 17.09.2012

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.
– CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

Nigel Farage’s Berating Rebuttal Of Barosso’s ‘State-Of-The-Union’ Banalities (Video)

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– Farage’s Berating Rebuttal Of Barosso’s ‘State-Of-The-Union’ Banalities (ZeroHedge, Sep 12, 2012):

MEP Nigel Farage provided a much-needed dose of reality to the peculiar pontifications of Barroso’s state of the union speech last night. Concerned at the fanaticism of Europe’s ever more concentrated power-base, summed up by his interpretation of Barroso’s call for a federal union of states (cue Darth Vader music): “while the nation state should continue to exist, it mustn’t have any democratic power,” the Englishman goes on to deride Mario Draghi’s unlimited money bazooka – though we suspect Farage’s belief that “money doesn’t grow on trees” will soon come into question day after day.  Super Mario as much as implied that he “will fight to the last German taxpayer to keep the Mediterranean countries, that should never have been in the Euro, in there,” but for a sense of just how ludicrous things are becoming in the EU, this clip is important as he reminds us of Monti’s (monstrous Mario) recent statement that “nation-state democracy will bring down the European Union.” Farage fears this rumbling facade over a crisis could go on for a decade, we can only hope not – one way or another.

Barroso’s 6100-word SOTU Wordcloud – need…political…union…states…

Farage’s rebuttal…


YouTube

Global Manufacturing Update Indicates 80% Of The World Is Now In Contraction

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– Global Manufacturing Update Indicates 80% Of The World Is Now In Contraction (ZeroHedge, Sep 3, 2012):

With the US closed today, the rest of the world is enjoying a moderate rise in risk for the same old irrational reason we have all grown to loathe in the New Normal: expectations of more easing, or “bad news if great news”, this time from China, which over the weekend reported the first official sub-50 PMI print declining from the magical 50.1 to 49.2, as now even the official RAND() Chinese data has joined the HSBC PMI indicator in the contraction space for the first time since November. Sadly, following today’s manufacturing PMI update, we find that the rest of the world is not doing any better, and in fact of the 22 countries we track, 80% are now in contraction territory. True, Europe did experience a modest bounce from multi-month lows of 44 in July to 45.1 in August (below expectations of 45.3), but this is merely a dead cat bounce, not the first, and certainly not the last, just like the US housing, and now that China is officially in the red, expect the next shoe to drop in Europe. Also expect global GDP to eventually succumb to the manufacturing challenges faced by virtually every country in the world, and to post a negative print in the coming months.

And charted via MarkIt:

Read moreGlobal Manufacturing Update Indicates 80% Of The World Is Now In Contraction

Tales Of The Unexpected: Who Really Benefited From The Euro (Hint: NOT Germany)

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– Tales Of The Unexpected: Who Really Benefited From The Euro (Hint: NOT Germany) (ZeroHedge, Aug 18, 2012):

With austerity supposedly destroying standards of living (that no real austerity has actually been implemented is a different matter entirely) across Europe’s insolvent periphery, the only recourse said broke countries (here’s looking at you Mario Monti and Mariano Rajoy) have is to desperately attempt to shame those countries who have money such as Germany, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands, aka Europe’s AAA club, into shoveling more and more and more cash into the bottomless pit that are the PIIGS. After all, precisely this was the basis for the “hostage and extortion” strategy that Monti employed at the June 29 summit, and which has resulted in a surge in European stocks on hopes Germany will indeed bail everyone out. The reason for this is that, at least according to conventional wisdom, it was these countries that benefited the most from a decade of EUR-facilitated mercantilism, and exported inflation to their spendthrfit (and ‘debt-thrift’) southern neighbors. So it is only “fair” that these countries now give back a little (or a whole lot) back (just as it is only “fair” that Germany give a helping hand in Obama’s reelection chances, which as everyone knows would be negligible if the global capital markets were to tumble just before November if reality in Europe were to come back with a vengeance). Well, as virtually always happens, conventional wisdom is wrong, and as the following chart from UBS demonstrates, when one analyzes the only relevant metric that compares changes in standards of living across various income deciles- namely changes in real disposable household income – it is precisely the PIIGS that benefited, while countries such as Germany and Austria were left in the dust.

From UBS:

If we look across the larger and longer established Euro membership we can see these two patterns being replicated according to country type. Each country shows the cumulative real disposable household income growth for each of its income deciles. The lowest income decile is to the left of each country’s selection, and the highest to the right.

Austria looks to be alarmingly weak – what this actually represents is very little change in nominal disposable income growth, coupled with inflation. Germany, Ireland, most of Italy and the French middle class all experience a decline in their standards of living. In most of these countries, the highest income groups do relatively well.

Read moreTales Of The Unexpected: Who Really Benefited From The Euro (Hint: NOT Germany)

Financial Decline In Europe Continues As Industrial Production Falls -0.6% And The economy Shrinks -0.2% … Italy’s Industrial Production Is Down -8.2% From A Year Ago And Down -1.4% In The Last Month

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– The Financial Decline In Europe Continues (ZeroHedge, Aug 14, 2012):

Via Mark E. Grant, author of Out of the Box,

As Industrial Production falls -0.6% in Europe and as the economy shrinks -0.2% there is once again a good reason to pause to consider the ramifications for this going forward. As part of the data release this morning Germany and France did somewhat better than expectations but it was fairly marginal while the rest of the EU-17 continues to be mired in difficulties. Overnight LCH increased the margin requirements for both Spain and Italy as the banks of Spain keep increasing their borrowings at the ECB which is now at an all-time record. More troubling perhaps is the recent release of data from Italy which showed that their sovereign debt had ballooned to $2.437 trillion and the trajectory is more than troublesome. In 2010 and 2011 Italy’s debt was expanding by $7.90 billion per month but in 2012 Italian debt has increased by $11.73 billion per month for a projected $141 billion by the end of this year. In fact the Italian economy is shrinking by about   -2.5% while their debt is growing by 5.8% which is the baseline for an unsustainable situation if these trends continue.

To make matters worse Italy’s Industrial Production is down -8.2% from a year ago and down   -1.4% in the last month. I think Italy must be reassessed in light of the recent data and I would project further downgrades for the country and an increase in their bond yields as people recognize the severity of their problems. To me it looks increasingly likely that both Spain and Italy will soon line up at the feeding trough which is going to strain Europe, in my opinion, past the limits of what France and Germany can bear and then all of the superlatives and all of the great hype are going to come face-to-face with a very tough reality I am afraid.

Read moreFinancial Decline In Europe Continues As Industrial Production Falls -0.6% And The economy Shrinks -0.2% … Italy’s Industrial Production Is Down -8.2% From A Year Ago And Down -1.4% In The Last Month

Eurozone: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts And Max Keiser: ‘All Big Banks In Europe Are Technically Insolvent’ – ‘Entire Globe Is Now Headed Into Depression’ (Video)

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(No such thing as man made global warming Max.)


YouTube Added: 09.08.2012

Description:

France, back in a recession for the 2nd time in 3 years. Italy’s economy contracting point seven percent in the last quarter: And for the powerhouse, Germany: its Industrial, construction and manufacturing all slumped for June: The euro- zone debt crisis continues to threaten the survival of the 17-nation currency bloc, affecting non-Eurozone members, like the UK, where the Bank of England said it did not expect the UK to grow out of a recession. But the more alarming picture: the lack of growth, whether its for each country, developing countries, or the global economy as a whole.

Why Ireland Scrapped All Their Voting Machines (Video)

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From The Onion:

YouTube

NOT from The Onion:

– And Now: Spanish Company ‘Scytl’ To Count American Votes In November Election

– Diebold voting system sported ‘delete’ button: report


YouTube Added: 03.07.2012

Description:

Ireland decided this week to scrap their voting machines–like the ones here stored in Dublin. They’re selling them for scrap metal, because they found they were too unreliable and too easy to hack. They’d only used them once, back in 2002, but that was enough. Unfortunately, America hasn’t learned as quickly as the Irish. It used to be in America that exit polls were the gold standard to determine if there were shenanigans in an election. For over a century we used them, and we got very, very good at it. They almost never deviated by more than a few tenths of a point from the actual electoral outcome, and when they did, it was a sure sign of fraud.

Read moreWhy Ireland Scrapped All Their Voting Machines (Video)

Gerald Celente On Who Really Creates All These Wars And Why (Video)

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See also:

– Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: ‘War Criminals Run The State Department And The Entire US Government’


YouTube Added: 07.08.2012

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.
– CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

Banksters Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland, India, France, Russia, Austria … (Video)

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YouTube Added: 29.07.2012

Description:

The rest of the story:

Read moreBanksters Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland, India, France, Russia, Austria … (Video)

Ireland Allows Iconic Potato To Be Genetically Modified

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– Ireland Allows Iconic Potato to be Genetically Modified (Natural Society, July 30, 2012):

In a monumental move that signifies the truly terminal state of the international food supply, Ireland’s government officials have given the green light to begin genetically modifying the iconic potato. Met with severe resistance from both citizens, watchdog organizations, and political figures, the decision allows for the genetically modified potatoes to be planted within Ireland by the Irish food development authority Teagasc.

Starting off with a trial within the nation’s borders, Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authorized Teagasc to plant the GMO crops throughout a two hectare land plot. While supports continue to assert that the relatively small size makes the process ‘safe,’ experts from within the Emerald Isle say otherwise. In response to the idea that starting the trial with a ‘small’ land plot is safe, The Organic Trust in Dublin explains that once you unleash genetically modified seeds into the environment, the consequences that may follow do not depend on how many acres of land is modified — only the fact that genetically modified seeds have been planted.

Spokesperson Gavin Lynch stated:

It is only a two hectare trial, but that’s like saying you’re only a little bit pregnant, there are no grey areas with GM…. Organic Trust calls on Teagasc not to act on the approval granted but to adhere to the wishes of the vast majority of Irish citizens not to pollute our precious land. Not one single solitary benefit will accrue to Ireland as a result of this trial. So why it is going ahead?”

Read moreIreland Allows Iconic Potato To Be Genetically Modified

September: Crunchtime For Europe And Germany

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So get your popcorn ready!

Related info:

– CDU’s Michael Fuchs: ‘Greece Cannot Be Saved, That Is Simple Mathematics’

– Greece To Run Out Of Money And Go Bankrupt By August 20

– Spain Is Out Of Money In 40 Days … And ‘Spain Has No Plan B’ (FAZ)

– September: Crunchtime For Europe And Germany (ZeroHedge, July 30, 2012):

“September will undoubtedly be the crunch time,” one senior euro zone policymaker said. “In nearly 20 years of dealing with EU issues, I’ve never known a state of affairs like we are in now,” one euro zone diplomat said this week. “It really is a very, very difficult fix and it’s far from certain that we’ll be able to find the right way out of it.”

As Europe’s fight with the twin demons of logic and math continues, time is running out. And as eurocrats take their mandatory vacations for a job well done and spend the next two weeks lounging on some Mediterranean island or listening to opera, Europe will enter hibernation mode, courtesy of a slow down in sovereign bond issuance, all of which however will change very quickly once September rolls in which as Reuters describes, “is shaping up as a “make-or-break” month as policymakers run desperately short of options to save the common currency.” It is then that we will find if all that money spent on newsletter promoting active prayer to push the hands of central planners in that direction or the other, was well spent, or just thrown in the same cash black hole which is the final restring place for hundreds of billions in “bailout money” which has achieved nothing but perpetuating the same destructive behavior that it was meant to change.

Reuters explains why September will also be known as the popcorn month:

Read moreSeptember: Crunchtime For Europe And Germany

Moody’s Changes Aaa-Rated Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg Outlook To Negative

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– Moody’s Changes Aaa-Rated Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg Outlook To Negative (ZeroHedge, July 23, 2012):

In a first for Moody’s, the rating agency, traditionally about a month after Egan Jones (whose rationale and burdensharing text was virtually copied by Moody’s: here and here), has decided to cut Europe’s untouchable core, while still at Aaa, to Outlook negative, in the process implicitly downgrading Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg, and putting them in line with Austria and France which have been on a negative outlook since February 13, 2012.The only good news goes to Finland, whose outlook is kept at stable for one simple reason: the country’s attempts to collateralize its European bailout exposure, a move which will now be copied by all the suddenly more precarious core European countries.

From the report:

Moody’s changes  the outlook to negative on Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and affirms Finland’s Aaa stable rating

London, 23 July 2012 — Moody’s Investors Service has today revised to negative from stable the outlooks on the Aaa sovereign ratings of Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In addition, Moody’s has also affirmed Finland’s Aaa rating and stable outlook.

All four sovereigns are adversely affected by the following two euro-area-wide developments:

1.) The rising uncertainty regarding the outcome of the euro area debt crisis given the current policy framework, and the increased susceptibility to event risk stemming from the increased likelihood of Greece’s exit from the euro area, including the broader impact that such an event would have on euro area members, particularly Spain and Italy.

2.) Even if such an event is avoided, there is an increasing likelihood that greater collective support for other euro area sovereigns, most notably Spain and Italy, will be required. Given the greater ability to absorb the costs associated with this support, this burden will likely fall most heavily on more highly rated member states if the euro area is to be preserved in its current form.

Read moreMoody’s Changes Aaa-Rated Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg Outlook To Negative

Spain’s 10-Year Bonds Hit Record High At 7.18 Percent

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See also:

– Egan-Jones Ratings Company Downgrades Spain’s Credit Rating To CCC+ (Uganda’s Credit Rating Is B!)

– Spain Crisis: Bond Yield Hits Bailout Danger Zone (NPR/AP, June 18, 2012):

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s ability to manage its debt without an international bailout was thrown into doubt Monday after investors pushed its borrowing rates up to the level at which Greece, Portugal and Ireland had sought help.

Investor sentiment improved briefly in the morning as electoral results in Greece suggested the country would not drop out of the euro currency union, a scenario that would have put severe stress on Spain’s markets.

But that market relief quickly transformed into concern in Madrid as it became clear that Spain’s fundamental economic and fiscal problems remain huge.

The interest rate on Spain’s 10-year bonds — an indicator of market confidence in how well a country can pay down its debt —hit a fresh eurozone era high of 7.18 percent before easing in the afternoon and closing at 7.12 percent. It is the first time since Spain joined the eurozone that it ended above 7 percent. Stocks plunged 3 percent on Madrid’s main index.

The bond yield’s alarming quarter percentage-point rise put it firmly in the range that prompted the other three eurozone countries to ask for a bailout.

Read moreSpain’s 10-Year Bonds Hit Record High At 7.18 Percent

Nigel Farage: ‘Once Greece Leaves The ECB Is Bust’ – ‘The Euro Titanic Has Now Hit The Iceberg And Sadly There Simply Aren’t Enough Lifeboats’ (Video)

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YouTube Added: 13.06.2012

– Farage: “The Euro Titanic Has Now Hit The Iceberg” (ZeroHedge, June 13, 2012):

In an epic rant, trumping Biderman, UKIP’s Nigel Farage appears to have reached the limit of his frustration with his ‘peers’ in the European Parliament after the Spanish bailout. Rajoy’s proclamation that this bailout shows what a success the euro-zone has been, sends Farage over the edge as he sees the Spaniard as just about the most incompetent leader in the whole of Europe (up there with favorites like Van Rompuy and Barroso). The erudite Englishman notes that by any objective criteria “The Euro Has Failed” expanding on the insane farce of Italy funding Spain’s banking bailout at a loss (borrowing at 6% to fund a loan at 3% as we discussed here). “This ‘genius’ deal makes things worse not better” as it merely drives other nations towards needing bailouts themselves and while his socialist colleagues in the room are mumbling and checking their blackberries, he reminds them that Spanish national debt will surge and that 100 billion does not solve the problem, and that if Greece leaves, the ECB is failed, is gone, and to rectify this there will be a cash call from the very same PIIS (Ex-G) that are tumbling towards the abyss. Blood pressure surges as he screams “you couldn’t make this up” concluding that “the Euro Titanic has now hit the Iceberg and sadly there simply aren’t enough lifeboats.”

Here They Come: Ireland Demands Renegotiation Of Its Bailout Terms To Match Spain

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– Here They Come: Ireland Demands Renegotiation Of Its Bailout Terms To Match Spain (ZeroHedge, June 9, 2012):

Well that didn’t take long. The ink on the #Spailout is not dry yet (well technically there is no ink, because none of the actual details of the Spanish banking system rescue are even remotely known, and likely won’t be because when it comes to answering where the money comes from there simply is no answer) and we already have an answer to one of our questions. Recall that mere hours ago we asked: “We also wonder how will Ireland feel knowing that it has to suffer under backbreaking austerity in exchange for Troika generosity, while Spain gets away scott free.” We now know. From the AFP: “Ireland wants to renegotiate its rescue plan to benefit from the same treatment as Spain, which looks set to win a bailout for its banks without any broader economic reforms in return, European sources said on Saturday.” And with Ireland on the renegotiation train, next comes Greece. Only with Greece the wheels for a bailout overhaul are already in motion and are called a “vote of Syriza on June 17.” And remember how everyone was threatening the Greeks with the 10th circle of hell if they dare to renegotiate the memorandum? Well, Spain just showed that a condition-free bailout is an option. Which means Syriza will get all the votes it needs and then some with promises of a consequence free bailout renegotiation. In other words Syriza’s Tsipras should send a bottle of the finest champagne to de Guindos – he just won him the election.

But back to Ireland. From AFP:

Read moreHere They Come: Ireland Demands Renegotiation Of Its Bailout Terms To Match Spain