Ireland really could have chosen to let some banks fail. There was a lot of pressure from countries that were trying to pretend their banking sectors were healthier than they were (esp. Germany), but several people then on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (e.g., Willem Buiter) said it was a mistake for Ireland to guarantee all creditors.
> Ireland really could have chosen to let some banks fail.
And the funny thing is the Irish Government still could wipe out the bank bondholders (with no repercussions apart from a ding to our credit rating for a few years).
The real issue is they lack the political will to look bad to the EC, ECB and Merkel. It's a fucking joke. The Irish taxpayer will be paying for this disaster for decades. If we didn't have the sovereign debt burden, the country would be doing pretty ok, as exports in Ireland are doing reasonably well given the anemic global economy.
