Ireland exits bailout: ‘biggest crisis since famine’

Ireland received the last tranche of funds from its European Union and International Monetary Fund 85 billion euro loan on Friday, with Finance Minister Michael Noonan hailing Irish citizens as the “real heroes and heroines” of the bailout.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will hail a new era in a historic state of the nation address and thank the nation for their sacrifices under years of heavy austerity measures.

Mr Kenny’s government has led Ireland through nearly three years of austerity as it fought to hit tough bailout targets.

Long way to go

However, he has warned that a long road to recovery still lies ahead, as the Fine Gael and Labour coalition struggles to drive down soaring unemployment.

Mr Kenny described the economic meltdown as the greatest crisis the country has faced since the famine, with 300,000 people emigrating in four years.

He also insisted the Government is committed to both getting Irish people back to work and helping Irish emigrants return home.

The Irish public has endured four austerity budgets since the EU/IMF agreed to grant the bailout.

The country’s finances, budgets and policies have been placed under intense scrutiny since the country agreed to a massive loan package in 2010.

The debt masters, a troika consisting of the IMF, the European Central Bank and European Commission, have carried out 12 intense reviews over the last three years and imposed a series of tough targets, all of which were met.

Strict austerity

The Government has hiked taxes to the tune of 5.3 billion euro and cut public spending by a cumulative 9.6 billion euro.

Unemployment soared above 15 per cent before the start of the bailout – before the banking crisis in 2008, Ireland enjoyed near full employment.

The country will become the first eurozone state to successfully complete a strict bailout programme.

Little is expected to change come tomorrow morning, but Mr Noonan predicted a “change in perspective” in that Ireland will have control over its own destiny.