I'm not sure how you manage to rack up debts of over $600 billion, as Lehman Brothers has done but no doubt the consequences of what has happened will be felt on this side of the Atlantic.
Irish banks are talking a good fight but the reality is that they are in denial about the strength of their balance sheets.
They have major loans to property entrepreneurs which those same developers cannot pay back. Moreover, they are securitised against landbanks and property which are inaccurately represented on the banks' balance sheets because they are no longer worth the prices paid for them.
In the US, these writedowns were of Homeric proportions...and they continue unabated. Today, UBS bank announced that it expected another $1 billion writedown in sub-prime mortgages.
And while the Irish bank debt isn't necessarily the toxic sub-prime horror story of America, it remains in essence the same: a false valuation for assets.
Meanwhile, this morning I was in the great Farset International Hostel on the Springfield Road peaceline to meet my colleagues from the Shankill Mirror as we continue our plans to increase co-operation between our media titles. The Shankill Mirror led last week (it comes out 19 times a year) with a story about the lack of grassroot Protestant/unionist representation on the West Belfast sub-group of the Belfast District Policing Partnership. I was pleased to hear that Sinn Féin councillor Marie Cush was in the loyalist Highfield estate last Thursday night to chair the West sub-group — when Shankill Mirror managing editor John McVicar brought up this 'democratic deficit'.
For my part, if it helps encourage change and 'ownership' of the PSNI, I'm all for having another unionist community representative on the sub-group — and the unionists could reciprocate by haivng another Short Strand representative on the East sub-group.
Pictures: Gerry Adams and Geraldine McAteer at the presentation last week of the Aisling Bursaries — great to see Geraldine back in position as ceo of the West Belfast Partnership Board after a year-long leave of absence, during which she has battled for justice for her brother Harry, murdered this time last year. Also captured yesterday, the Lockkeeper's House at the Lagan towpath is now open, complete with a teahouse. They facility opened on Saturday.
5 comments:
Hi Mairtin,
Yep, great to see Geraldine back in the driving seat. Hopefully with time out Geraldine got time to stand back and evaluate the task at hand...before getting over-loaded up with everyday challenges.
Hopefully under Geraldine's leadership we can get moving again on some of the bigger issues that face the West Belfast Community.
The immediate challenging comes in March 09 when the funding for community jobs comes to a abrupt halt. West Belfast needs jobs that bring prosperity not the 'day-to-day' uncetainty associated with these '3 year projects'.
I don't know how anonymous can equate "jobs that bring prosperity" with "Community jobs".Community jobs in my opinion are only a form of well paid dole for a select few who kick with the right political foot.According to his blog Mairtin does a lot of networking and it seems to be the same "Community Activists" at every meeting.I don't know where they get the time to do any work even of a "Community" kind.It mightn't be a bad idea if this funding didn't turn up and some of the "Community " stalwarts might have to go out and take up some of the "prosperous" jobs currently being done by some of the estimated 50'000 Poles employed in the North at the moment.
I wonder if the shankill Mirror will highlight in its next edition the fact that the areas Councillors are opposing in a blatantly sectarian manner the building of a small number of houses in the Crumlin /Oldpark area that might help to alleviate some of the chronic housing shortage of north Belfast catholics.If there is a democratic deficit on the Shankill it has less to do with the Police than with the mindset its elected representatives .
Sadly, I think you'll find that the paper does write about that development www.shankillmirror.com home page, condemns the housing association for moving ahead with the development allegedly without full planning permission and includes a call from a local councillor for another peacewall and 'buffer zone' to be included in the development. Tragic and wrongheaded, in my view.
"tragic and wrongheaded "is very restrained indeed Mairtin ,its more like disgraceful and nakedly sectarian.The Shankill mirror raising the planning issue only adds insult to injury.hope the north Belfast news attacks it head on.These bigots have to be exposed.
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