ECB letter contains no real surprises
I have always believed that Ireland was forced to take one for Europe, and that is exactly what this letter reveals.
In the run up to this letter the Irish banking system would have folded but for the emergency funding provided by the ECB. At the time of the letter the ECB had already provided €50bn in emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to the Irish banks. In the absence of this funding the Irish banks would have been forced to close their doors and this would have caused justifiable mayhem and panic among the Irish banking public and would have created an unprecedented and massive crisis in the economy.
