Dangerous precedent

Even with the austerity measures in place. Hopefully this precipitates the fall of the Euro area sooner than I expected.

Fears that Ireland could be forced into a Greek-style bailout by the
European Union or the International Monetary Fund swept through
financial markets today after the beleaguered country's borrowing
costs soared to levels seen as unsustainable by investors.

Long-term Irish interest rates surged to their highest levels since
the launch of the single currency amid growing evidence that repeated bouts of budget austerity have failed to convince international investors that the former Celtic Tiger economy can cope with the banking crisis caused by a boom-and-bust in its housing market.

Attempts by Patrick Honohan, the central bank governor, to reassure
investors by stressing that the Irish government was already planning the tough fiscal measures that the IMF would insist upon backfired, and helped push yields on 10-year Irish bonds up 61 basis points to
8.7%.

"Putting Ireland and the IMF in the same sentence can trigger
palpitations in the credit markets," said Gavan Nolan, a credit
analyst at Markit. "Speculation that the Irish government and the IMF have already reached an agreement was doing the rounds."