Freeze the sale of the Anglo Bonds!
09 December 2014
Freeze the sale of Anglo Bonds
The massive debt of Anglo Irish Bank which has been nationalised by the state has been back in the media recently, for reasons including the possibility of junior bondholders being paid off, and the moral and justice issues at stake at a time when people in Ireland are expected to pay a second time for their water supply.
No, the debt has not gone away, and it will not go away until the 2050s, unless we do something about it. It is still possible to stop these totally unjust and immoral debt repayments. The government and Central Bank must freeze the sale of the Anglo bonds.
Don't sell the bonds...
The European Central Bank is piling pressure on Ireland to sell the illegitimate Anglo bond debt. This debt is the debt of gambling bankers. It was never our debt and it should not be paid. The debt originates from the bailout of the infamous Anglo Irish Bank - Irish Nationwide Building Society, through promissory notes given by the state to pay off the bondholders, even while this zombie bank was under criminal investigation. The debts of Anglo & Co – about € 30 billion – are worth nearly half the cost of the private banking debt made public in Ireland – € 64 billion, a staggering 40% of our national income. Last year Anglo & Co were hastily wound down, and as part of this 'deal', the promissory notes were converted to tradeable bonds, and placed with the Irish Central bank for sale on the markets.
If Patrick Honohan, the Governor of the Irish Central Bank, sells this unjust debt on the international markets, it will make it harder for us to refuse to pay the new holders of the debt - and we will be bound to pay interest to the new bondholders, adding insult to injustice.
Call Patrick Honohan at the Irish Central Bank: 01 2246000 and ask him to freeze the sale of the Anglo Bonds. Or email him at patrick.honohan@
Tell him to do the right thing and not to sell the Anglo bonds.
Here is a draft message to help you...
Draft message:
Dear Governor Honohan,
I am contacting you to ask you to freeze the sale of the Anglo bonds - the bonds relating to Anglo Irish Bank -Irish Nationwide Building Society - which you call 'floating rate treasury bonds'.
This debt was never the debt of the people of Ireland. It is the debt of a gambling bank now under criminal investigation. It should not be paid.
If you sell this unjust debt on the international markets, it will make it harder for us to refuse to pay the new holders of the debt. And we will be bound to pay interest to the new bondholders, adding insult to injustice.
Please do the right thing and freeze the sale of the Anglo bonds.
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Learn more about why Ireland should not sell the Anglo bonds:
In February 2013, amid huge public outrage at the promise to pay over € 30 billion to settle the Anglo debts, the Irish government changed the form of the debt but without in any way reducing the size of it. It was previously in ‘promissory note’ form – like an IOU – and the government changed it to sovereign bonds, a tradable form of debt now held at the Irish Central Bank. The Irish Central Bank is set to sell the bonds gradually to international markets but now the European Central Bank is pressuring Ireland to sell them faster. Check out our blog on the issue here.
