Last weekend the Govt briefed all the media that the ECB would be announcing medium term funding arrangements for our banks on the same day as the stress test results.

However there was no annoucement, just silence from the ECB.

Medium term funding which replaces the weekly and monthly debt rollovers is absolutely crucial to convince the markets to lend to our banks.

So why did the ECB not provide this essential transition away from short term life support? The frightening answer was revealed on Thursday evening by Channel 4’s internationally respected financial editor, as according to Faisal Islam: Enda Kenny turned up and he was very cocky. He sat down and told everybody ‘this package isn’t working, we are a new government, it has to change’. Both the content and the attitude was a stark contrast to the much more humble approach of [Georges] Papandreou, [the Greek PM]. It had a terrible impact. Merkel and Sarkozy were very upset. They said: “We went to our parliaments and got billions and billions at huge political cost – forget it.”

Enda Kenny talked of a honeymoon, however his inexperience and cockiness has now endangered everyone’s future due to his horrendous miscalculation as to tactics. The EU Council is not the FG parliamentary party – they won’t be browbeat into facing the realities we face.

Those in FG who called for Enda to go last summer, have to put the country first and act now before it’s too late.