Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Fine Gael is playing party politics at a critical time for the economy. By engaging last week in baseless accusations, smear and innuendo, it sought to drag through the mud the good name of the Taoiseach and the Government. If it really had the national interest at heart, it would not seek to undermine measures we are taking at every opportunity for economic recovery. If they really had the national interest at heart, they would not seek to undermine at every opportunity the measures we are taking in the interests of economic recovery. They are determined to damage the name of Ireland as they pursue their own political agenda, regardless of the cost. Fine Gael is feeding the international frenzy to paint the country in the worst possible light.

At least four German newspapers have published negative stories about Ireland today. Fine Gael's refusal to put the national interest ahead of its own is damaging Ireland Inc. at home and abroad. Ireland's financial position is not an exceptional one in an international context. The main story in the German media today is the bail-out of the ailing HSH Nordbank by two German Länder by means of a capital injection of €3 billion and a guarantee of €10 billion. The media in Germany have been extremely critical of the decision, particularly the state oversight arrangements, which sounds familiar. The German media are also giving extensive coverage to the ongoing crisis at Opel, as the German car manufacturer tries to gain more autonomy from its US parent company, General Motors, and secure its financial future. Most German newspapers are reporting that the federal government has no plans to provide capital for Opel. A number of newspapers have reported on a further drop in confidence in the German business climate, to levels not seen since the 1980s.

Much of what is happening in Germany is similar to the problems we are experiencing in Ireland. Why is there so little about Germany in the Irish media at a time when Ireland is being heavily featured in the German media? Why are the Irish media saying so little about the major problems in the United Kingdom and the United States? Today's edition of the German newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine, contains headlines such as "The Tiger in Crisis". Die Welt reports that Ireland's difficult recession has forced Irish politics into crisis. The largest selling newspaper in Germany, Bild, has commented that if Berlin did not have enough problems with its economic and financial crisis, it may now have to assist other eurozone states.

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