FF should have stood up to ECB

Fianna Fáil has admitted it should not have allowed itself to be "threatened" by the ECB in the run up to the €67.5bn EU/IMF bailout in November 2010.

Party finance spokesman Michael McGrath said correspondence published yesterday shows Brian Lenihan was under pressure as the ECB attempted to “overstep its remit” in forcing the bailout terms.

“We shouldn’t have allowed ourselves to be threatened in the way that we were by the ECB,” said Mr McGrath who disputed the ECB’s claim that Ireland was not pushed into accepting the bailout.