Today the cost of borrowing by the State and Irish bank rose sharply. Investor yields sought on ten-year Irish bonds rose to over 6.1 percent.

Greek and Portuguese bonds saw similar pressure. These results are being blamed on the cost of the Anglo Irish Bank bail-out, along with media articles doubting the accuracy of recent tests by the European Central Banks. The rise is also being blamed, in part, on investor concerns and the downgrades by rating agencies.

This rise being yields about the peaks reached at the height of the debt crisis in early May.

Brian Lenihan is currently in Brussels meeting with his EU counterparts. Yesterday he met with EU competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, to discuss Anglo Irish Bank.

The National Treasury Management Agency announced today that it will auction off between €400 million and €600 million of the securities.

Mr Lenihan has the country to hold its nerve in fragile international conditions. He said the €25 billion or more costs of bailing out Anglo are “manageable”.

“I must say I was a bit concerned to see yesterday, a suggestion that a lot of public opinion believed that Anglo Irish Bank will bankrupt the country.

 “That’s simply not the case. At all stages, the governor of the Central Bank has made clear, and I have made clear, that the costs are manageable. Yes they’re annoying, they’re infuriating, but they are manageable.”

He added “International conditions have become much more fragile since May of the year. There’s a general uneasiness in European markets. We have to hold our nerve."

“We need to set out a clear course for the bank and how it will be 'derisked' for the Irish State and the Irish taxpayer.”