8/13/2019 Editorial: In celebration of Trinity's alumnae

1/1

TRINITY NEWS

Est 1953

towardssomerevival of thecollegiate spirit,

which modern conditions tend to discourage

t

HEAD TO HEAD: THE FISCAL TREATY

An attempt to further rob the Irish

people of their sovereigntyEANNA ODWYER

NIALL MURPHY

IN CELEBRATION OF

TRINITYS ALUMNAE

What are the positive implications of passingthe treaty? Aside from the diplomatic consid-erations, there are a number of badly neededeconomic frameworks in the treaty which willhelp improve Irish medium-term fiscal policy ina very positive way.

It is important to note that many of the pro-posals that were agreed upon at the summit inthe start of December by all Eurozone heads ofstate were already in the national pipeline long

before being put to paper. A November 2010report on fiscal governance issued by the mul-

tiparty Oireachtas Joint Committee on Financeand the Public Service mentioned most of theproposals in the treaty as being a desirable wayto manage the public finances isnt it odd thatMr. Cv and Sinn Fin had no opposition tothese measures at that time?

Furthermore, the three main parties advo-cated these policies in advance of the generalelection and they form part of the Programmefor Government.

Given the similarity that these measures alsopose to the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP),which was voted on by the electorate within theMaastricht Treaty, it would be fair to concludethat the electorate and the Oireachtas have vot-ed on and approved these measures a numberof times already. A sense of dj vu will certain-ly be accompanying me to the ballot box.

Many on the No side will argue that thetreaty requires us to cede more of our domesticsovereignty to Europe. The reverse is, in fact,the case. Previously, the SGP had functioned

under the auspices of the European Commis-sion if a country broke the rules they wouldget a slap on the wrist from Brussels and thengo back to running wild deficits.

This treaty requires all national govern-ments to pass the budgetary regulations out-lined in the treaty into their constitution/domestic law. This means that supervision ofdomestic finances will now come from withinthe already existing body of domestic legislationin each member state and therefore will have to

be supervised by th e national parliament andthe national courts.

In addition, a common European budgetaryframework can now be built into every member

states statute books, making the rules muchmore difficult to break t han the SGP. How couldwe possibly be giving away our sovereigntywhen, if anything, were actually getting more

back from Brussels?Another argument is that the treaty will

condemn Ireland to permanent austerity.However, it is important to bear in mind whatausterity actually is, what those who opposeausterity propose in its place and what thetreaty actually does.

As I interpret it, the issue for those who op-

pose austerity is the fact that public expendi-ture is being cut so heavily to balance the books.Looking at the Sinn Fin pre-budget submissionfor inspiration, the broad thrust of their policieswas to bring in a third rate of income tax and awealth tax, some additional spending measuresand the heavy use of the pension reserve fund.Those who oppose austerity are not averse torunning balanced budgets in fact they mustsurely support it since by not borrowing on theinternational markets we leave ourselves to de-cide economic policy free from speculators and

bondholders. They are instead looking for agreater emphasis on increasing revenue, in par-ticular from the wealthier members of society.Looking at the treaty, there is nothing there thatwould prevent any of Sinn Fin or the ULAspolicies from being implemented, as long asexpenditure and revenue balance over a certaintimeframe. The treaty allows for a high tax, highspend policy once it balances, just as much as itallows for a low tax, low spend policy.

I agree with those who argue the treaty doesnot go far enough. It is not, and does not attemptto be, a silver bullet. However, the sort of guar-antees that it provides over national policy areabsolute prerequisites to the implementation ofother new measures that will help us come clos-er to the final package possible solutions suchas further high level liquidity interventions bythe European Central Bank in bond markets,Eurobonds and European level banking regula-tion can only be built upon the kind of stabilityin budgetary policy that the treaty provides for.Therefore the treaty must be seen as a first step,and a massively important first step at that,along the path to prosperity for the Eurozone.

16EDITORIAL

TRINITY NEWS

By not borrowing we free ourselvesfrom speculators and bondholders

SUFFRAGETTE, politician, scientist and war hero allwomen who have been awarded with degrees byTrinity College, Dublin. The contribution of women tothis college, and beyond its walls, is undeniable.

Dublin University has a strong history of recognis-ing women for their academic capabilities. In the 1900s,the college awarded B.A. and M.A. degrees to femalestudents of Oxford and Cambridge at a time when thewomens colleges refused to do so.

These women, affectionately known as steamboatladies after the mode of transport they took to Dublin,were conferred with ad eundemUniversity of Dublindegrees. Many went on to have careers that began toshape the newly emerging role of women in politics andsociety.

Dame Frances Dove, a womens rights campaignerwho received her M.A. from Trinity in 1905, is anexceptional example. The daughter of a clergyman, withsome difficulty she gained an education at GirtonCollege, Cambridge and Trinity College, Dublin. Justtwo years after her graduation, Dove was elected a localcouncillor in High Wycombe, and became headmistressto several girls schools. Dove devoted her life to pro-mote education for girls and womens political involve-ment. She was a suffragette, and several of her pupils

became prominent in the movement for womens civilrights including Mary Pickford, who became one of

the first female MPs in 1931 (as a Conservative for Ham-mersmith North). Dove was made a Dame in 1928.Another staunch campaigner for womens rights

was Eleanor Rathbone. After graduation, she workedalongside her father, also a social reformer, to investigateindustrial conditions in Liverpool. An opponent of theSecond Boer War and of violent repression of rebellionin Ireland, Rathbone campaigned for female causes.She was an Independent MP, and used her prominenceto found a womens forum and an organisation to helpwidows of the Great War. Rathbone was instrumental innegotiating womens inclusion into the 1918 Represen-tation of the People Act, and exposed regulations thatreduced married womens access to benefits and insur-ance. She was one of the first politicians to recognisethe threat of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and joined theAnti-Nazi Council to support human rights. Rathbonewas an outspoken critic of appeasement, earning her the

enmity of Neville Chamberlain.The geologist Gertrude Elles, also a steamboat lady,paved the way for womens role in scientific research.She receive the prestigious Lyell Fund from the Geologi-cal Society of London for her contribution to Grapholiteresearch at the age of 28, but was unable to receive it inperson as women were barred from meetings. AmongElles other accolades, she received the Medal ofMember of the Order of the British Empire for her workwith the Red Cross during the First World War.

There were over 700 steamboat ladies during this pe-riod. They stayed at Trinity Hall, a residence for femalestudents until the 1970s it was only from then thatfemale students of the college were allowed to remainon campus after 6pm. They lived in Oldham House, theVictorian building in Hall named after ElizabethOldham, one of the main campaigners for womensadmission to the college. Her portrait hangs in the frontlounge.

Today, female members of the college communitywould never expect to face the adversity of their coun-terparts a century ago but inequality still remains.While Trinity employees and students are predominant-ly female, 18% hold Head of School positions and 20% ofFellows of the College are women. Therefore institutionslike the TCD Equality Office and International WomensWeek remain vital, not only to recognising thecontributions of Trinitys exceptional alumnae andfemale members, but also to ensuring the campaign forrights and equality continues.

THE ACTIONS of successive Fianna Fil-ledgovernments caused us to lose our economicsovereignty. They sold us out to the Troika ofthe ECB, European Union and the IMF. Theysigned us up to years of austerity, allowing theeurocrats in Brussels grow fat off the backs ofthe Irish worker. They cast away our right torule ourselves and now it seems that Fine Gaeland their whipping boys in Labour are little

better.The Fiscal Compact Treaty is an attempt to

further rob the Irish people of their sovereignty.It furthers the worrying trend of us losing moreand more of our power to govern ourselves to the

bureaucrats in Bruss els. A simple glance at theshambles that is todays European Union should

be enough to tell any voter that supporting atreaty that gives Europe more power over us isa bad idea.

This treaty adds an extra layer to this

dominating European government. It will createa form of Eurozone government that will makedecisions behind closed doors in Brussels on

behalf of all states still using the single currency.It will take yet more decision making away fromthe representatives that we directly elect in Dilireann and hand it over to the likes of NicolasSarkozy and Angela Merkel.

We have already ceded much of ourmonetary policy decision making capabilitiesto the ECB and it is severely hampering ourattempts at recovery. This treaty will tie ourhands even more. Not only will this Eurozonegovernment further restrict our hands withregards to monetary policy, but the strict limitsplaced on budget deficits and government

borrowing severely restrict our ability to enactan independent fiscal policy. It will permenantlytie us into a free market system of low taxes andlow spending precisely the kind of system that

both got us into the mess we now find ourselvesin and that so i nadequately provides for societyspoor.

How will we be able to promote job creationand economic growth when we are preventedfrom providing economic stimuli by thedraconian fiscal restrictions contained in thistreaty? You cannot tax and slash your wayout of a recession. Further taxes and cuts ingovernment services will severely hurt theIrish economy. It will ensure that dole queuesmaintain their already disturbing length.

This treaty represents a last gasp effort of theunelected eurocrats to save their beloved singlecurrency project. It is obvious that this Euro-Federalist pipe dream has failed completely.

It was an arrangement rushed into with noconsideration as to the effects of an economiccrisis. Eurocrats need to continue to propagateEuropean integration. Once that process slowsdown the many flaws and cracks in its designwill become visible and the whole ungodlysystem will fall asunder.

We must reject this treaty for austerity. It willprevent Ireland from finding recovery and willprevent us from being able to prevent a repeat;it will cede yet more of our already dwindlingsovereignty to the bureaucrats in Brussels; itwill condemn the Irish people to years of yetmore austerity and it will perpetuate the failedproject that is the European Single Currency.We must vote No.