An essential ideological pillar of the attacks on workers and unemployed people over the past number of years is the idea that Ireland is broke. The impression is given that the wealth created during the Celtic Tiger (where the top 1% of the population gained €75 billion) has simply disappeared.
"The news of Eircom's owners' intention to shed at least a further 1,300 jobs on top of the similar amount of voluntary redundancies it has already sought and almost achieved shatters the government guff that we are embarking on an economic recovery".
The premise of Fine Gael and Labour’s Programme for Government is that there is no alternative to continuing the austerity policies of Fianna Fail. socialistparty.net questions this assertion and argues for socialist policies to redevelop the economy.