Merkel’s killer blow to hopes of debt cut

The Government was urgently seeking clarification from Berlin last night after Angela Merkel appeared to have dealt a death blow to hopes of cutting the country’s massive bank debt.

It has emerged that Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the two-day summit in Brussels did not even raise the issue of the EU’s rescue fund taking over the banks in exchange for up to €32bn that would be used to reduce the country’s debt of around €180bn.