Anger Rising In Ireland Over Bank Crisis

Gormley said an early election would not be useful.

Anger is growing among Ireland's population over the authorities' handling of a home-grown banking crisis and the country's worst recession, a cabinet minister said on Monday, two days after a mass protest.

John Gormley, leader of the Green Party which is a junior member in Prime Minister Brian Cowen's governing coalition, however ruled out a snap election in the short-term despite the pressure on the government over a series of banking scandals. [ID:nN17455546]

"What I see at the moment is a perfect storm of anger," said Gormley, who is Cowen's environment minister and whose party's support is essential for the government's survival.

"You have middle class people who are very, very upset by what is happening, people in business who cannot get loans from banks. Many people in working class communities are also extremely angry," Gormley told Newstalk radio.

He also said he was worried that police officers had joined recent demonstrations in Ireland.

In an unusually large protest, nearly 100,000 people marched through Dublin on Saturday, accusing the government of putting the burden of cutting the bloated budget deficit on ordinary workers and letting banks off the hook. [ID:nLL585313]

A strike is planned next weekend by Dublin bus drivers, who have threatened to extend their action indefinitely unless the bus operator backs down on cutting measures.

Cowen is under pressure from Brussels and ratings agencies to cut the deficit, but plans to introduce a pension levy on public sector workers and freeze their pay has sent his approval ratings and those of his party to record lows.

Another Green official warned last week the party could review its commitment to the coalition if any politician became implicated in the controversies surrounding multi-billion euro deposits and loans at now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank.

Gormley said an early election would not be useful.

"We're a long way off that juncture. But unfortunately the situation is accelerating in a way that many people had not anticipated," he said.

Gormley supported calls for an overhaul of the Irish financial regulation system in light of the scandals, partly by bringing in a new chief executive for the regulator from abroad.

"We have this cosy-dozy relationship between the regulator and the banks. That can't happen any more," he added.