Ireland did well when it first joined the EU. It received subsidies and cash from other member States and some people, farmers in particular, became wealthy quickly with no extra effort on their part other than the completion of a few forms. Later, Ireland's turn came to fund more recent new members. People can't help themselves but to spend and borrow and the rot started to set in during the decade just ended, after the subsidies to Ireland ended. Come the world recession and the country as a whole is caught with debts it can't pay.
Ireland and Greece are not the only countries with this problem. Within the EU, Spain, Italy and Portugal are heading in the same direction with the UK possibly not far behind. The US also has a budget deficit problem. Take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget
Cold logic suggests that austerity measure, painful though they are, are necessary in order to prevent things getting worse. Well, that's what the experts who talk gobblegook tell us. But this problem was created by people who have not suffered from it. In fact, many might be wealthier as a result. That's why people in Greece, France, Ireland and the UK are protesting very strongly. Why should they make the sacrifices when the authors of the recession prosper?
'Trim the fat' amounts to job losses, home loan foreclosures, bankruptcies and other suffering for people who have worked hard and toed the line. None of that affects the wealthy, of course, especially the senior bank employees. Many people in Ireland are already poor and are now expected to make sacrifices because of the greed of others. 'Fat' is hardly the appropriate expression in their case.
