As the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission arrived to Dublin to discuss Ireland financial crisis with the Government some cheeky pranksters put Ireland up for sale on what looks like Ireland's biggest property website, Daft.ie.

The ad, which was not in fact on the Daft.ie, said the country is being sold for €12126212.56 per square kilometre. It said: "Republic of Ireland, Western Europe. €900bn o.n.o. Island for sale. Floor area 74,000 km2. Unit Price: €12126212.56 per sq km. Contact name: Brian Cowen."

A Daft.ie spokesperson said “Someone used Photoshop or some similar mechanism to make it appear the advert was on our website and then they sent several emails with a copy of it. On the day that's in it somebody thought they were having a bit of harmless fun."