And now we play the rating game ...

Ireland’s downgrading to junk status has sparked anger and frustration, prompting use of the phrase ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ from some quarters. But some say ratings agencies are more than just messengers, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

ON Monday, Finance Minister Michael Noonan appeared in reasonably good form, when interviewed on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. Ireland’s case for a review of the onerous terms of its bailout package appeared to be gaining acceptance in Brussels, amid a growing sense that the crisis has reached pan European proportions. It was anticipated that the EU and IMF would give the thumbs up to the country, in its latest progress review. Then, along came the US ratings agency, Moody’s, to spoil it all by downgrading the country’s credit rating to “junk” status.

The move was widely anticipated by those in the know, reflecting as it did a growing realisation that a restructuring of the debts owed by Europe’s so called “GIP” group, Greece, Ireland and Portugal, is now all but inevitable.