That the Irish President unyoke the Nation's Welfare from Private Banking Interests

We, the undersigned citizens of Ireland, hold that the Government of Ireland, by means of the following actions, laws and agreements, underwritten by the wealth of the citizens of Ireland, has unlawfully and immorally yoked the welfare of the nation of Ireland and of its people to the commercial interests of certain private banks and private bank investors:

1) The enactment of the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008 and the Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009, as amended, through which instruments the citizens of Ireland pledged their public treasury and national assets as surety for various debts and risks knowingly incurred by private banks and private investors.

2) The various disbursements from the public treasury, pursuant to the above legal instruments and others, of sums aimed at shoring up the balance sheets of private banks and obviating with public monies the risks knowingly undertaken by private investors.

3) The enactment of successive punitive public budgets, constrained by loss of public sums so disbursed, eroding the services, public investments and entitlements due to the citizens of Ireland, threatening the well-being of the poor, sick and disabled, and directly removing from circulation in the general economy monies by means of which the citizens might once again thrive and contribute a net gain to the public purse.

4) The negotiations conducted with unelected parties representing the EU, the ECB and the IMF, and concluded on 28th November, 2010, with an agreement to undertake yet further debt, underwritten by the wealth of the citizens of Ireland, the terms of which have yet to be fully disclosed in public, but which have as their aim the further open-ended support of private banks and private bank investors from the public purse, and which put at grave risk the nation's assets and cash reserves.

We, the undersigned, believe that the Government of Ireland, in so yoking the well-being of the nation to the commercial fortunes of private risk-taking institutions, has acted in direct contravention of the Irish Constitution, in particular of the provisions cited below, to the harm and detriment of both living and unborn Irish generations.

Bunreacht na hEireann, Article 45.2
iii. That, especially, the operation of free competition shall not be allowed so to develop as to result in the concentration of the ownership or control of essential commodities in a few individuals to the common detriment.
iv. That in what pertains to the control of credit the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole.

Bunreacht na hEireann, Article 45.3.2
The State shall endeavour to secure that private enterprise shall be so
conducted as to ensure reasonable efficiency in the production and distribution
of goods and as to protect the public against unjust exploitation.

Bunreacht na hEireann, Article 45.4.1
The State pledges itself to safeguard with especial care the economic interests of the weaker sections of the community, and, where necessary, to contribute to the support of the infirm, the widow, the orphan, and the aged.

We, the undersigned, call on Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, by virtue of her office, to be mindful of her moral duty of care to the nation, to shield the interests and welfare of the people of Ireland from the hostile commercial powers ranged against them, and, in accordance with her sacred oath given to the people of Ireland as follows:

"In the presence of Almighty God, I, Mary McAleese, do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws, that I will fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the service and welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me."

and, in accordance with the privileges and responsibilities of her office, we petition her to seek constitutional redress for her people and to take all actions necessary to unyoke the nation of Ireland from the commercial and private interests of certain private banks and their private investors.