Ireland: after the Greeks, the Irish are going to test Brussels’ will to be more directive on labor market reforms in the name of financial and economic stability

The Irish State is tied.  The government had already flagged some of these changes, imposed by a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union in return for financial support, in a 4 year national recovery plan published last week.  Ireland will go to the polls early in the New Year and it is widely expected that the existing government will lose very badly. Room for maneuver by the new government would appear to now be very severely restricted.