Taoiseach: Last govt lead Ireland into bailout; not ECB letter

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny says Ireland was already destined for a bailout before the head of the ECB wrote his threatening letter.

Mr Kenny says Ireland's economic decline began after Fianna Fáil came to power in 1997.

He was responding to the publication of Jean-Claude Trichet's letter to Brian Lenihan, effectively forcing him to take a bailout.

The Taoiseach says the last government are the only ones responsible for leading Ireland into a bailout.

He said: "By the time it got to the letter being written, the Governor of the Central Bank had already been on Irish radio saying that the IMF was already here. The die was already cast.

"There was a long lead-in to a decline, a disaster, facing Ireland that was not recognised by the government of the day."