27/11 The Front Pages

The Irish Examiner reports that the pension reserve fund is to be spent on the banks. Up to €15billion of the fund that was built up during the (fake) boom will be siphoned off and used to shore up three of the banks: AIB, Bank of Ireland and EBS. The report also claims that the EU-IMF bailout will involve the closure of Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide

They also report that “Gormley eyes guillotine to push through climate change law”. The Green Party leader is prepared to cut debate on climate change legislation so that it can be pushed through the Dáil before the current government breathes its last.

Passage of eco-friendly legislation would be a boost for the party and may help restore the faith of its supporters ahead of what will be a difficult election for them.

The front of the Irish Independent is dominated by the headline “Penal interest rate the price of €85bn bailout. They report that it has emerged that taxpayers (that’s us) will have to shoulder a much higher than expected interest cost, as most of the loan will come from the (expensive) special EU contingency fund and not from the  (cheaper) IMF fund.

The higher rate could be up to 6.7 per cent. In contrast, Greece currently pay an average rate of 5.2 per cent.

The front page of the Indo also carries the headline “Obama in stitches”, accompanied by a picture of him nursing a split lip gained during an “energetic” game of basketball on Friday.

The Irish Times reports that “efforts intensify to finalise bailout package by tomorrow” and that the “plan is to conclude a deal before the markets open on Monday”. A diplomatic source has told the Times that a teleconference of EU finance ministers has been arranged for Sunday afternoon, and that the last details are being thrashed out.

Their inside source disagrees with the 6.7 per cent figure that has been reported elsewhere (such as on the front of the Indo and on RTÉ), saying, vaguely, that the final figure will “not be that high”.

The Times also reports on the Sinn Féin win in the Donegal byelection, which leaves the coalition with a majority of two – a majority that is essentially reached by including the votes of the two Independents Jackie Healy-Rae and Michael Lowry.

Which kind of means that Jackie Healy-Rae is in charge. Frightening stuff.