I'm not a bit torn about all this. Not a bit. Bankers are now a bit upset and humiliated. Well humble pie is better than no pie at all.
1. Ireland is not out of the woods with this first infusion of money as there seem to be several more shoes ready to drop if things start to go sour e.g possibly commercial real estate is in the pits, and the continuing banking problems with their version of too big to fail and little banks taking on more water than they can bail.
2. The ordinary Joe who lives paycheck to paycheck and has a life that is now even more highly regulated just doesn't schmooze up the idea that the bank bailouts and renewed regulation aren't linked. I take that position.
The banks didn't seem to want the money why? So they don't get regulated and can do their business out of the eyes of the government - i.e. business as it was before. That's the normal guy's take on all this and frankly it stinks. I think they have given up their high-ground in this matter and there should be a regulator sitting on the banker's lap for a while.
Albeit this post is a gross generalization, there is a smattering of truth in it all. There is a certain "be damned" attitude that seems to be a way of life for some people. Some of them are the bankers who helped dig Ireland in this hole and by the nature of the problem were the first pigs to the trough for EU money. When these pigs found out that the free feed brought a feedmaster they didn't like it as much.
When they went to the point of wanting it for wanting it for free and just want the trough and not the feedmaster doling it out, that's what drives me and a lot of us crazy.