Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Moody's has cut Ireland's government bond rating to Aa1 from AAA, making it the last of the three main agencies to strip Ireland of its top credit rating.

"Moody's concluded that there was a case for only a moderate rating downgrade at this stage in light of the decisiveness of the policy response as well as the government's strong balance sheet position prior to the crisis," it said.