Irish politician's bank bailout gaffe

The leader of Ireland's Labour Party, tipped to be part of the next government, has labelled European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet a "civil servant" who will go along with any renegotiation of the country's bailout.

Eamon Gilmore, likely to become deputy prime minister in the next coalition, made his comments after Mr Trichet said Ireland should stick to the plan, which involves Dublin implementing harsh cutbacks in return for €85 billion (72bn) in funding from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Both Labour and the main opposition party, Fine Gael, poised to take control after a 25 February poll, are campaigning to renegotiate parts of the bailout put in place to fund the state and majority state-run banks.

"Mr Trichet is a European civil servant, and any civil servant will of course always stick to the plan that is there at the moment, just as he will stick to the plan that is renegotiated when it is renegotiated," Mr Gilmore said yesterday.

Irish banks' dependence on the ECB has grown massively in recent months, with lenders' funding support from the euro- zone's central bank up by 50 per cent in the second half of 2010.