ECB chief Mario Draghi has confirmed that the institution will not ‘formally’ participate at any stage during Ireland’s banking inquiry, thus removing a key player from the financial crisis drama.
He did tell a committee that the ECB may play an ‘informal’ role in the proceedings.
Earlier this month, some letters sent by the ECB’s then chief Jean-Claude Trichet to the late Brian Lenihan were disclosed to the public. The content of these letters pretty much amounted to ‘Ireland, sign a written commitment to our offer of a bailout fund or we pull the plug on emergency funding.’
The rest, as they say, is history.