EU: After Portugal, now Ireland is junked

“Irish debt cut to 'junk' status as euro zone crisis deepens,” headlines the Irish Times, the morning after Moody’s downgraded Ireland’s credit rating. The announcement occurred just “hours after the Minister for Finance said that measures to aid Greece proposed by euro zone finance ministers on Monday night would benefit Ireland,” the Dublin daily notes. On the contrary, for Moody’s – “the measures being contemplated for Greece had increased the chance that Ireland might default on some of its debts if it has to seek another bailout from Europe.” The resulting downgrade to junk status, like Portugal’s last week is expected to lead to a sell-off in Irish bonds when markets open today. The Irish Times adds that, “The downgrade came at the end of a day on which EU internal market commissioner, Michel Barnier, said he would propose “stiff measures” in November to curb the power of the agencies. “We were surprised that the agencies would downgrade a country without any warning,” he said, referring to Portugal.