Serious debt writedown must now be secured

The Government's refusal to set out its stall for a major writedown of our debt indicates that it is keener to ensure the passage of the fiscal compact treaty referendum, than it is in standing up for Irish rights in Europe. Of course, the notion of a debt writedown should be central to the fiscal treaty referendum - and any Government that doesn't think so shouldn't be negotiating on our behalf. There may well be some crumbs thrown at Ireland - and they'll be presented as an heroic achievement by our Government, but Ireland deserves more than that. Ireland cannot sustain its current debt levels - and writedowns and negotiations have been pursued for other countries, notably Greece. This is a serious opportunity to secure significant concessions on the onerous burden placed on the backs of the Irish people by the European Central Bank, which insisted that Irish taxpayers, rather than banks and speculators across Europe, pay the price for the gambling which characterised our continent-wide financial system for much of the first decade of this century. Yes, the treaty, as Enda Kenny is suddenly fond of repeating, does not represent a veto, but it does, nonetheless, provide some leverage, some bargaining power for our Government. Our Government must secure a better deal from Europe as a starting point for this referendum. And we voters must put the pressure on the Government, and by extension on Europe. As to how to vote? The Westmeath Independent in recent years has avoided advising its readers, on the basis that Irish people are intelligent enough to make up their own minds. This time around, the average voter faces something of a dilemma. After four years of economic pain, this vote could provide everyone with a chance to say 'enough'. But proponents of the treaty argue that shunning this agreement could represent a major setback for the country - as well as for the EU's efforts to revive the flagging European economy. The first opinion polls of the campaign show that, thus far, a majority are in favour of passing the referendum, but Irish referenda have a habit of following a pattern that start out with the 'yes' camp in the ascendancy but with the 'no' side gathering momentum as voting gets nearer. The result has been a rejection of previous European governing treaties in 2001 and 2008 before they were passed at the second time of asking. One of the problems there has been in the past with European referenda is that the treaties and what they contained had not been explained properly to voters. We were asked to vote for something politicians themselves hadn't bothered to read, and on that basis, voters rejected them. This time, we hope that the debate will be about the treaty itself, though comments by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that the referendum will be about Ireland's membership of the euro and the Eurozone does not bode well for a straight-talking debate on the treaty itself.