IRISH communists branded outgoing Irish Minister for Finance Paschal O’Donohoe as “just another craven Irish Establishment figure in the service of imperialism” today.

Mr O’Donohoe announced on Tuesday that he was resigning to take up the second most senior role at the World Bank, as managing director and chief knowledge officer.

Mr O’ Donohoe said he was “departing from public life” in Ireland and is resigning as minister for finance “effective immediately.”

He also confirmed that he will stand down later this week as the member of the Irish parliament for Dublin Central.

But in a statement, the Communist Party of Ireland said the announcements came as little surprise.

The statement said that Mr O’Donohoe “put the interests of domestic and foreign capital before the needs of the Irish people, especially the needs of the working class and family farmers resulting in increased profits for the few and increased poverty for the majority.”

The communists slammed the World Bank as “a vehicle for maintaining and reinforcing the dominance of United States monopoly capital.”

Domestically, the governments in which Mr O’Donohoe has served “have enforced austerity cuts in public services.”

“He is just another Irish functionary Establishment figure being rewarded by his masters for enforcing the dictates of Brussels, Washington and London,” the party said.