Extract from the article Weak democracy one of our biggest problems by New Beginnings Vincent P Martin. PAYING the promissory note was one of the most controversial and costly decisions ever taken in the history of the Irish State. A legal action has been launched to challenge its constitutionality – with the court hearing due to begin on Tuesday. Lawyers with New Beginning, a group campaigning for Ireland’s recovery, has framed a case considering the lawfulness of the promissory notes on the basis that it believes democracy has been undermined. The case hinges on the enormous scale of the bank debts foisted on the citizens of Ireland. It is not just you and me who will bear this burden. Our children and grandchildren will be asked to labour to repay these debts – the hopes and lives of future generations shackled from the outset. Their futures in this country, should they choose to stay, will be compromised by this crippling debt burden which has left Ireland both broke and broken. TD Joan Collins is the plaintiff, taking the case against the State on the basis that the democratic system was overridden. How was it legal for our elected representatives to be bypassed when it came to making such a monumental decision? The Irish people who must make these astronomical payments year after year, and for no benefit, never agreed to be bound in this way. Neither did Dáil Eireann agree, acting on their behalf. It was the Minister for Finance at that time, Brian Lenihan, alone who made the notes and his successor Michael Noonan who has subsequently made payments on foot of them.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 12:43:57 +0000