BBC insists Ireland EU bailout talks under way. No longer a question of 'if'.

Over the past few days various media reports have quoted many variations of comments by Cowen. The problem now with Ireland is that the Government has lost credibility. Cowen has been quoted blaming everyone but himself (including the French and the Germans) for Irelands woes. Cowen and his Government have been strenuously denying any EU bailout is on the table. But the BBC says differently and insists the bailout is no longer a question of 'if'.

It's a bit like the boy who cried wolf. Nobody knows what to believe of Cowen or the Irish government any more. Such uncertainty is every bit as bad as the stupidness and recklessness of the Irish government in recent years.

It was wrong not to plan and set aside funds for a rainy day (Ireland is a rainy country at the best of times). Equally it was wrong and reckless to bail out the banks in an undertaking that was open-ended irrespective of whether the country could afford the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario has yet to arrive and these fools have effectively bankrupted the country.