Michael Dowling: What 70,000 Irish mortgage holders should do with their fixed-rates this year

The European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Tracker mortgage holders will see the benefits in their monthly repayments a month after the ECB announces each successive rate cut.

Following the unprecedented hikes in the European Central Bank interest rates since the summer of 2022, mortgage holders can at last look forward to rate reductions in the second half of this year and through 2025. 

That's because financial markets are more bullish about the extent of interest rate cuts than the announcements from the ECB will allow, because the eurozone central bank has the delicate balancing act of managing expectations and controlling inflation.