It’s All Greek To Me!
I like Greece and the Greek people for that matter, even if they do smoke too much!
I also like the euro and on the whole think it is a good thing and we should have joined, just like we should have joined Schengen.
The trouble with Greece is that they don’t like rules and especially those imposed by others on their economy. One Greek told me that’s why they all smoke in restaurants despite it being against the law.
So perhaps their economy wasn’t strong enough for Greece to join the single currency, but for a few years it gave them a lot of cheap money, just as it did Ireland. So now that the lenders want it back, there’s problems all round. Robert Peston of the BBC analyses it all here.
I’m no economist, so where it will all end, I do not know. But I am a qualified control engineer and I do know that the Greek economy has all the stability of a bicycle with the handles stuck either turning to the left or right.
Just like the bicycle, the Greek economy will have an awful crash.
The villians really are not the Greeks here, but the politicians who wanted a single currency and didn’t really think through about how to make it work properly. If the right rules had been in place from the first day, then there would have been no need for a bailout of Greece, Ireland or Portugal.
I suspect now, that if it was that stable, then we would have joined the euro. Or we would have at least tried to!
Liz’s Triumph
The Queen’s visit to Ireland has passed so far without any serious hitches or gaffs. But then visiting Ireland, where nearly all the population are hospitable to all visitors, is a lot less tricky than visiting some of the places governed by some of the worst or the worst, she has been told to go by successive governments. I’m sure she really enjoyed her visits to Saudi Arabia and Rumania!
There might however be a problem for the Queen on the horizon, where Ireland is concerned.
Currently, her horse, Carlton House, is favourite for the Derby. He also has entries in the Irish and French Derbys.
Many Epsom Derby winners have followed up their victory at Epsom, with a run at The Curragh. And of course, there are horses, who have run in Ireland because of minor problems that prevented them competing at Epsom.
The permutations are endless.
But it is not inconceivable that a horse as good as Carlton House is, will run in Ireland.
So as with the visit to Ireland, it’s all so far and so good!
But she has undoubtably shown politicians how to forgive and forget and move on constructively. And many of those she’s met in Ireland have shown the same positive attitude.
So many of those in trouble spots around the world could follow this lead in looking forward rather than hundreds of years into the past.
Should The Queen Be Going To Ireland?
Probably Yes! But on a personal note, she’s probably a bit stressed and even a trifle excited about her horse Carlton House, which runs in the Derby on Saturday June 4th.
There is also this little story from horse racing gossip in the Guardian.
The Queen’s racing advisor, John Warren, told journalists an intriguing story as to how the monarch came to own Carlton House after the colt galloped into Derby favouritism with a victory in York’s Dante Stakes on Thursday. The three-year-old was apparently a present to Her Majesty from Sheikh Mohammed and there could be wry smiles all round if the royal colours are carried to victory at Epsom.
Despite more than 30 years of trying and hundreds of millions of pounds of investment, the sheikh has yet to have a Derby winner in his own name – now he could have given away a horse with a potential worth of tens of millions of pounds as a stallion.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s breeding empire suffered from what proved to be an error of judgement in the early 1980s when her mare Height Of Fashion was sold to Sheikh Mohammed’s brother, Hamdan. She went on to become one of the greatest mares of all time and produced the 1989 Derby winner Nashwan.
So perhaps she doesn’t beware of Arabs bearing gifts. On the other hand, it was quite an error of judgement over Height of Fashion.
I have a feeling I might go to the Derby. After all, if Carlton House does justify his favouritism and win, it will be one of those truly I was there moments.
Remember though that the last Royal Derby winner was Diamond Jubilee owned by Edward, the Price of Wales, in 1900. That was the year before his mother, Queen Victoria, celebrated her diamond jubilee in 1901.
And Queen Elizabeth the Second celebrates her diamond jubilee next year!
After Greece and Ireland, It’s Now Portugal!
There is a lot of opposition to bailing out Portugal in the UK. We should always remember wha happened to the British economy when Denis Healey went to the IMF in the 1970s. We got the money we needed, but we had to bring in some very unwelcome policies under IMF supervision.
So shouldn’t the same rules apply to Greece, Ireland and Portugal? Isn’t there an old phrase about the person paying the piper calling the tune?
I’ve just returned from Greece and it is a country in turmoil. But then I’ve hardly ever been to Greece without suffering some form of labour dispute. Because of its history and weather, it has a lot going for it. But a lot of it requires investment in infrastructure for which it doesn’t have the money.
I must ask the question as to whether the money that has been pumped into Greece has been used wisely?
I have had no experience of Ireland in the last few years, but the Irish still seem to find the money to spend on racehorses. They want to renegotiate the bail-out conditions on the one hand and on the other they still have a low rate of Corporation Tax, to which many countries object. So perhaps the most important condition in the bailout of Ireland hasn’t been applied.
In some ways loaning money to Ireland is in our interests, as a lot of it will come back in the purchase of goods and services, as our two countries are very economically entwined. But again we didn’t seem to apply any obvious pressure on Corporation Tax.
With respect to Portugal, which used to be known as our oldest ally, we don’t really have any great economic interests in the country. I suppose the one problem we do have in Portugal and Spain is the large number of ex-pats, who have bought properties there. So if either went bust and we didn’t help, then there might be quite a few votes down the drain.
After all, the only reason we bailed out the stupid people, who put their money in Icelandic banks, was to buy votes.
So on balance we should probably help with Portugal. But only on our terms. After all, if China or the United States was to bail out any country, they wouldn’t do it without a lot of self-interest.
The Queen’s Visit to Ireland
It is being reported that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit Ireland in the near future.
It would seem that they are looking forward to the visit, as are most of the Irish people. The report in the Irish Independent contains this.
The Queen will be accompanied by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and it is reported that privately both are keenly looking forward to their visit.
It must seem strange to them that the organisation of such a visit has taken so long, but relations between the two countries can be ultra-sensitive with neither side wanting to put the other in an awkward position.
Now that the Queen has accepted an invitation from President McAleese, all the formalities have been completed and history can be made. Predictably, not everyone will welcome the Queen’s presence and this tiny minority will no doubt try to detract from the overwhelmingly positive atmosphere surrounding the event.
But most Irish people have already made up their mind — this visit is welcome and shows how the relationship between the two countries has matured and deepened in recent years, particularly since the end of the Northern troubles.
The visit also occurs at a difficult time economically for both countries and Britain was among a group of European countries that contributed funds towards Ireland’s €85bn rescue package agreed in November.
That act of generosity, while motivated in part by economic self- interest, bonded the countries closer together and showed that Britain regards Ireland as an old friend, rather than an old foe.
It is perhaps not strange, that the Queen has not visited Ireland before. But there are only two other significant countries she has not visited; Israel and Greece. Israel I can understand, but Greece!
Should We Fear the Result of the Irish General Election?
Today, Eire goes to the polls to try to find a new government to ease them out of their troubles.
Will the result help or will it hinder? I’m no political commentator, but there are so many factors at work in the whole of Ireland, that it would take someone with real charisma and vision to sort out the mess he will inherit.
The Irish seem to be doing too, what they always do in times of trouble and that is emigrate. Surely, in some ways this will make matters worse, especially if jobs are exported as well, which will of course reduce tax revenues. An interesting aside to the emigration, is that an estate agent in London told me, that quite a few houses in London are being sold to the Irish. He wondered where they were getting the money from?
Which leads me to another question. Will a new government investigate some of the murkier financial tales of the last couple of decades? An Irish friend once described Charlie Haughey, as a man without any visible means of support. In this case, I suspect that sleeping dogs are best left to sleep long and deep. But there may be other scandals, that need to be fully investigated.
And then too, there is the question of terrorism. Incidents have happened in the last few months in the north and where will this resurgence lead? In the UK, we’re so obsessed with other issues, that some commentators, feel we may have lost sight of our oldest terrorist threat.
A strong leader in Ireland would be a great help in reducing this danger, throughout the British Isles. Let’s hope they get one!
But I fear that they won’t!
Roy Keane on Ireland-France
Roy Keane was very blunt about Ireland on the BBC yesterday. There’s a video on the link, but here’s some of what he said.
France were there for the taking and Ireland didn’t do it. Same old story.
If I’d been there in the dressing room after the game, I wouldn’t be talking about the handball. I’d focus on why the defenders didn’t clear it. They should’ve cleared it.
I’d be more annoyed with my defenders and my goalkeeper than Thierry Henry. How can you let the ball bounce in your six-yard box? How can you let Thierry Henry get goal-side of you? If the ball goes into the six-yard box, where the hell is my goalkeeper?
He has a point, but there is one point that no-one has made in the media.
I play real tennis a lot and like anybody who plays these sort of games, you play to where the ball lands. So if you know if an opponent’s serve is going out, you never run for it. It’s the same in football. Does a goalkeeper jump if the ball is going two metres over the bar? Of course not!
I have not seen a shot of the face of Shay Given, but did he think that Thierry Henry’s handball was so blatant that the referee would blow his whistle? So he didn’t go for the ball as it came back across the goal.
So perhaps the real fault of the Irish team was that they didn’t play to the whistle.
Never Trust the French
The Irish seem to have taken their defeat by the “Hand of Henri” very well.
But it just shows how even nice Frenchmen can be sneaky!
The Anonymous Widower 