Five years on from the bailout, FF blames ‘Joe and Mary Soap’ for economic collapse – Coffey

Five years to the day since Fianna Fáil voted in the bailout in Dáil Eireann, they are still trying to shift the blame for Ireland’s economic collapse, according to Fine Gael Minister and TD for Waterford, Paudie Coffey.

“Five years ago today, the Fianna Fáil led government voted to hand over our broken economy to the EU/IMF/ECB troika. But they are still trying to convince the Irish people that it was nothing to do with them. Only yesterday, Bertie Ahern popped up on BBC radio and blamed ‘Joe and Mary Soap’ for Ireland’s economic collapse.

“Let me be clear, Ireland’s economy did not collapse because of Joe and Mary Soap, it collapsed because of Fianna Fáil’s economic model, otherwise known as Bertienomics.

“Under Bertie Ahern, and with Micheál Martin as a senior Cabinet member, Fianna Fáil spent a decade indulging in giveaway budgets in order to win elections; had an economic model that was based on the construction and sale of houses; and turned a blind eye to the lack of financial oversight of our banks which bankrolled our so called property boom.

“This created a perfect storm and when the property bubble burst, our economy collapsed with it. This is why, five years ago today Fianna Fáil handed over our economic sovereignty to the troika.

“Today is also the second anniversary of Ireland exiting the bailout. This was made possible by the hard work of the Irish people and by sensible, sustainable economic planning. We are seeing economic progress, with over 135,000 more people at work, but we cannot take for granted that stability and recovery will continue.

“We cannot go back to the same old Fianna Fáil who wrecked the economy, have learned nothing from the past and are still the high tax, high spend party. Worse still, they are still trying to blame everyone but themselves for the collapse of the economy.”