Miss Ireland Knows

I heard it on the radio

That we’re improvised once again

I heard it on the radio

That

Miss Ireland knows

The country is short on dough

Cause she can’t buy

Any clothes

Oh

Miss Ireland Knows

The boys from sprout are here to foreclose

And move us to a land undisclosed

And those that stay will have to pay

A penal penalty dear

For Miss Ireland knows

The country is short on dough

Cause she can’t buy any clothes

Oh Miss Island knows

The Govermnent calls on the Telephone

Ireland calling sprout Zone

Ireland calling

The meltdown has come

Fill the bowl

Fill the bowl

For the money is gone

And the Tombstones of the poor

Have disappeared

To be sold in Kenmare

For miss Ireland knows

The country is short on dough

Cause she can’t buy any clothes

Oh

Miss Ireland knows

The men are drinking pints of bitter tears

And tasting the ashes of decay and arrears

Verbalizing into unhearing ears

Coursing through their veins are cries of desperation

Witnessing the closing doors of desolation

Oh how the river cascades full of trials and tribulations

Oh how the river flows

Deep down in their souls

They know fear is on the march

For they are afflicted by a fiscal tightrope

From whose scorn their is no hope

Can they escape to grow old?

Without the serfdom of being controlled

Let’s have revolution

Let’s have a new constitution

Let’s flee through the trap door

To find the allure

Of The elusive Cote D’Or

All that my friends

Is true

For

Miss Ireland knows

The country is short on dough

Cause she can’t buy

Any clothss

Oh

Miss Ireland  Knows

Bank sends letter over €5 mortgage arrears

How many of us are busting a gut to keep up with mortgage repayments? And how many are just a missed pay packet away from joining the 169,000 or so  people who are in currently in arrears or  in difficulty with their mortgage?

So when you are actually managing to pay the mortgage every month, it can be disconcerting to receive a letter  from the bank that refers to arrears, credit rating and repossession. I received a MARP (Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process)  booklet in the post from Ulster Bank last week   along with a letter informing me that I’m in arrears to the tune of €5.28.  It goes on to say, “Under the regulation covering MARP, we must tell you that: If you miss your mortgage repayments it will affect your credit rating, which may affect your ability to get a loan in the future. If your home is ever repossessed, that would also affect your credit rating.”

So for the sake of just over €5, they are reminding me that missing a repayment will affect my credit rating and and that losing my home would affect my credit rating. I’m guessing if my  home is repossessed, my credit rating won’t be uppermost on my mind.

It also said the bank had written  previously about the matter .

I didn’t receive the previous letter but it struck me that rather than sending me two letters and a booklet to inform me about this massive debt, they might cast their mind back to their technical meltdown during the summer and deduce that the shortfall might somehow arise from this period.

If  their systems hadn’t been down  for some weeks  and the payment was taken by direct debit as normal, then this mistake would never have happened . Now stick that in your bad credit rating.

When I phoned the bank to find out why I got a letter about such a small amount, the guy I spoke said under  the law that  banks have to send out a letter to customers “even if  they are only 3 cent in debt.”

Is it just me or is that a complete departure from common sense?  Shouldn’t there be at least one  missed mortgage payment or at least an inquiry into why there’s a shortfall  before a bank goes into overdrive, spouting out  letters and booklets? No, according to Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers  who says that much of the banking system is automated and for a payment to be €5 short it would normally mean that it was done manually (at a branch) rather than by direct debit, because a direct debit will either clear in full or not .

“An arrear is typically formed when payment due is not cleared in full at the end of the ‘grace period’ which in Ireland is 30 days. This means that if you were short €10 on a €100 loan that after 30 days you would be €10 in arrears, if this happened 10 times in a row you would then be a month behind. This happens in mortgages that you see a loan classed as being 90 days in arrears, but in fact the problem has been ongoing for 2 years not 90 days (it has to do with the way it accrues rather than being a specific zero payment for three months).”

He sees no  problem with the banks sending out letters to people who are behind by tiny amounts. “Prevention is better than cure. It’s better to get in there early if someone needs help than when it’s too late. If they don’t need the help then they can throw the booklet in the bin.”

He has no sympathy for people  who that don’t appreciate being pulled up over a small amount and thinks the bank  take the view they are being pro-active and showing some civic responsibility.  But wouldn’t it be a more sensible approach if they first inquired into the cause of the shortfall before bandying the  “c” word (ie credit rating)  about while  informing you about what will happen if your home is repossessed?

via Home Truths » Bank sends letter over €5 mortgage arrears.

via Home Truths » Bank sends letter over €5 mortgage arrears.

How Vulnerable is Sterling?

Fitch warns UK could lose is AAA rating.
This could mean further bad news for Ireland. If sterling weakens, our exports become more expensive, which will lead to additional job losses in Ireland.

Britain is edging closer to losing its gold-plated sovereign credit rating due to weak growth and increased government borrowing, rating’s agency Fitch has warned. It reconfirmed Britain’s “negative outlook”, slashed its forecast growth from 0.8per cent to a 0.3per cent for this year. It warned that international debt would hit almost 100pc of GDP. Bear in mind the UK has yet to factor in pensions and bank liabilities into Government figures. Once these numbers become part of the accounts, its level of debt is similar to our own.

Moreover, for some unknown reason nobody appears to care that the UK or the US governments’ debts are unlikely to be repaid. However, if they ever do start caring, we will observe interesting but catastrophic times.

In the case of Italy, for example, the debt was there and had been there for years, but nobody had ever bothered. Then suddenly, the markets decided to care, and we all know what happened.
Maybe the chickens are coming home to roost in the UK for their financially and economically illiterate Government. For the subjects of her Majesties Government one hopes not

The sad part is that the people must suffer and the only beneficiaries of these difficulties are the International banking system. You will see and observe that in each country their aim is to dismantle the welfare state leaving the citizens at the mercy of international business