In the summer of 2011, when the eurozone-crisis was in full swing, 10-year Irish bonds were yielding more than 14%. Ireland had just been rescued by a €67.5bn loan package from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the country’s woes were compounded by bad behaviour around the eurozone periphery.
But sentiment has changed dramatically over the past two-and-a-half years. In December, Ireland formally exited its rescue programme from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF – the Troika – and in January, the country became the first European sovereign to tap the syndicated bond market in 2014, launching a €3.75bn 10-year transaction yielding just 3.54%.
