In spite of stringent austerity measures taken by the government , financial markets are beginning to see Ireland as "Europe’s next Greece"..Last week the Standard & Poor’s rating agency cut Ireland's credit rating to AA- . This is the lowest rating in the past 15 years .The revised rating means that this country will now have to pay increased interest rates to ensure the sales of its bonds.
The wsws today quotes a recent New York Times article entitled “In Ireland Danger Still Looms” by economists Simon Johnson and Peter Boone . The NYT piece estimated that the probability of Ireland defaulting on its debts “has shot up”, and that under the current government program every “Irish family of four will be liable for 200,000 euros in public debt by 2015”.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/euro-s07.shtml