Republic of Ireland EU bailout confirmed

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen confirmed the Republic of Ireland and the European Union have agreed on a financial rescue package Monday. The move came after an emergency conference call Sunday evening in a bid to avoid Ireland’s huge debts having negative consequences for weak European economies.

Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the amount would be less than 100 billion euros.

The precise amount and terms will be negotiated during the following weeks with the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

In addition to a bailout sum from the IMF Sweden could lend Ireland up to 1.1 billion euros according to Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg.

Britain said  it was considering a loan to Ireland of about 8 million euros as part of the international rescue plan.

The move comes after international delegates last Thursday visited Ireland for crisis talks with the government over how to fix the country’s debt-ridden banking system.

Markets appeared to react well to news with the euro surging Sunday night after it faced heavy selling in recent weeks due to the debt woes of Ireland and other eurozone nations such as Portugal, Greece and Spain.

The same could not be said for some Irish nationals however, with angry protesters gathering outside the government buildings in Dublin on Monday.