Ireland's Finance Minister Renegotiates Euro Bailout via Diplomacy

“Lads, we took one for the team”

Noonan spends his days renegotiating the terms of Ireland’s bailoutPhotograph by Finn Taylor for Bloomberg Businessweek

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Brendan Greeley

September 12, 2013 at 7:07 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

BusinessWeek Cover Image (13_38, 1600x2398)

This article is part of the September 16, 2013 issue of businessweek.

July 26, 2012: Ireland returns to global bond markets

“We started with Christine,” says Michael Noonan. He means Christine Lagarde, a friend and also the head of the International Monetary Fund. Noonan is Ireland’s finance minister, and in 2012, Lagarde’s was only one of several approvals Noonan would need for a creative refinancing of some of his country’s roughly $222 billion in sovereign debt. “I said, ‘Look, Christine, we’re doing great, we’re fulfilling all the obligations that you’ve asked us to fulfill, and we’ll continue to do that. But we still won’t fix the Irish problem, and consequently, there’ll be a problem in Europe as well.’ ” Wrapped in his personal warmth is a rhetorical device borrowed from the mob: Nice euro you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.