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Ireland has made progress toward recovery after its 2010 bailout.Ireland first eurozone member to see credit rating improve since the region’s debt crisis erupted Ireland was forced into a European Union/International Monetary Fund bail-out in November 2010Also gaining credit for efforts to rein in public debt and bloated bank industry (Financial Times) — Investors looking for good eurozone news this week should have heeded Village People’s advice: “Go West.” Ireland became the first eurozone member, excluding tiny Estonia, to see a positive rating action by one of the big three US ratings agencies since the region’s debt crisis erupted in [...]

DUBLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny issued a joint statement on Sunday reaffirming that euro zone leaders would examine ways of improving Ireland’s bank rescue, recognizing that it is a “special case”. Kenny has come under intense pressure at home since Merkel said on Friday that euro zone banks could not be retrospectively recapitalized via the bloc’s bailout fund, appearing to dash Irish hopes of getting a wide deal on its banking debt. Ireland, which has been in talks for almost 18 months to ease the burden placed on it by its failed banks, added [...]

TOKYO Ireland and Portugal do not yet qualify for the European Central Bank’s bond buying programme, ECB’s Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Saturday. The ECB has announced it would buy potentially unlimited amounts of bonds euro zone governments that sign a memorandum of understanding with the euro zone’s bailout fund or are regaining bond market access after an emergency loan program. Spain is likely to be the first country to benefit from the ECB plan, called Outright monetary Transactions (OMT). “The question is when countries like Portugal or Ireland, which is now under a full-fledged EFSF programme, can [...]