Doherty: ECB letter needs to be made public

There are mounting calls on the government to publish a letter from the European Central Bank dating from almost two years ago, that allegedly forced Ireland into a bailout.

The letter from the ECB came just days before Fianna Fáil signed up to the Troika bailout in 2010.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan says it would be inappropriate for him to overrule a Freedom of Information decision not to release the letter but he says it will be given to a banking inquiry.

However, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty says that's not good enough: "There's no reason not to release it now. The public have a right to know what is going on here.

"I don't know why we have to wait for a banking inquiry that may or may not be established. We have no idea which committee would actually carry out that inquiry.

"Why do we have to wait for a year? What is so damaging in this letter that the Irish people can't see the contents of it right here, right now?"