Deal in days on €3.1bn Anglo payment

Ireland is likely to seal a deal within days to avoid paying €3.1bn cash into the former Anglo Irish Bank (now the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation), setting the scene for wider talks on restructuring the sector which will take months to complete, Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan has said.

It comes as Taoiseach Enda Kenny hailed a deal which could see China swoop to buy Irish sovereign bonds and state assets.

Ireland has pushed for several months to improve its bank bailout conditions, concentrating on replacing €30bn of high-interest loans to Anglo with another instrument that would lengthen their maturity and cut their interest rate.