Ireland Heads for the Bailout Exit

On Sunday, Ireland will become the first European nation to leave its emergency bailout since the region’s debt crisis began four years ago. In 2010, with the country’s banking system on the verge of collapse, Ireland sought a three-year 67.5 billion euro rescue from the European Central Bank, the European Union, and the International Monetary Fund. The exit means Ireland will fully re-enter international debt markets and end its reliance on the "kindness of strangers."

Irish October 2020 Government Bond Yields

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69.4
October ‘13

Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News

Michael Noonan

Irish finance minister

“Our reputation was shot to bits. Lots of ministers on the continent were sick of listening to the boastful Irish talking about how you make a lot of money on property.”

Photo: John Cogill/Bloomberg News

John Corrigan

CEO of Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency

“We were now being met with the emerging markets desks of certain houses. That will tell you how far we had fallen.”

Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg News

Wilbur Ross

CEO of WL Ross & Co.

“We concluded Ireland would be the first country to emerge from bailout...We also immodestly believed that a big investment by ourselves and other internationally-known investors would help to accelerate the recovery.”