Mixed political reaction to ECB deal

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has described the bank debt deal as a great day for Ireland and an opportunity for the economy.

“This package of measures will make a marked difference to Ireland’s debt sustainability,” he said.

Ireland's borrowing requirement would be reduced by €20 billion over the next 10 years, he told the Dail.

“We will reduce our deficit by an annual figure of €1 billion from 2014. We are tearing up the promissory note and we have wiped Anglo Irish Bank off the map.”

Mr Gilmore said when he worked as a trade union official he had learnt early on to never organise an ice cream strike in winter. “When you’re in negotiations, don’t play your hand until your hand is strong. We knew and understood that we first had to repair Ireland’s reputation abroad," he said. “The Government made it clear that we were willing to deal with our own problems but were carrying an unacceptable share of other people’s problems."

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin gave a conditional welcome to the deal and said Ireland deserved a significant easing of the burden of its banking debt. He said ECB and EU had changed their positions in the last two years from a policy since 2008 of avoiding contagion. The ECB governor Mario Draghi had made a difference as well in terms of his more pragmatic approach and that had changed the atmosphere across Europe.