Tomas Hirst — Here's The Secret Letter That Shows The ECB Forced Ireland To Ask For A Bailout

A leaked letter published by The Irish Times on Thursday shows the European Central Bank (ECB) threatened in November 2010 to pull emergency funding from Irish banks if the Irish government did not apply for a bailout. 

The letter is significant because the ECB previously held that Ireland voluntarily asked for a bailout, effectively declaring that the state was failing. That has now been shown to be false. During some of the worst moments of the financial crisis, central banks around the world acted decisively to head off the possible collapse of financial system. In Europe, it seems, that support came with a price tag. 

Below is the full letter from then- ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet to Brian Lenihan, Ireland's finance minister at the time (emphasis added). 

It shows the ECB demanded not only that the Irish government seek a bailout, but also that Irish taxpayers guarantee the emergency funding to its banking sector in order to receive central bank support. The letter in evidence of the ECB straying into government policy of member states as early as 2010.

Jean-Claude Junker, the newly-elected president of the European Commission, may face extra pressure after a group of investigative journalists revealed on Wednesday that hundreds of companies appear to have negotiated secret tax-cutting deals with Luxembourg.

Juncker was prime minister of Luxembourg for 18 years, between 1995 and 2013.

According to leaked documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the shady negotiations allegedly saved some of the world's biggest companies, including Pepsi, HSBC, Amazon, and IKEA, millions of dollars that would otherwise have been paid in tax.