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Angela Merkel Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/Press Association Images

Merkel throws down gauntlet to bondholders over Greek bailout

The German chancellor has warned private investors they must share the burden – putting her on a collision course with EU banking chiefs.

GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel has told private bondholders they must contribute to a rescue package for ailing Greece – or face even costlier measures down the line.

In a significant intervention, Merkel hinted that she would not even attend a scheduled Eurozone summit in Brussels on Thursday unless a deal was done on the second bailout deal. “I’ll only travel there if there is a result,” she said yesterday.

The leader of Europe’s most powerful economy denied she was looking to arrange a Greek default, but said she wants private investors to share the burden. “We are trying everything we can to prevent [a default]“, she said according to the Wall Street Journal. “The more we can involve private creditors now on a voluntary basis, the less likely it is that we will have to take next steps [...] Private creditors have to be involved.”

Possible options for burden-sharing could include a rollover of Greek debt, swapping current government bonds for new ones, and a buy-back of bonds, Reuters reports.

However, the statements set her up for a clash with European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet. Trichet warned today that a government default – which would include any of the options for Greek burden-sharing – could lead to the ECB no longer accepting sovereign bonds as collateral for loans. This could potentially cut off funding to the Greek banking system, according to the Financial Times.

“If a country defaults, we will no longer be able to accept its defaulted government bonds as normal eligible collateral,” he said. “The governments would then have to step in themselves to put things right.”

Observers have suggested a burden-sharing arrangement for Greece could lead to an improved deal for Ireland.

Read more: Olli Rehn calls for a cut in Ireland’s interest rate >

Read more: EU calls emergency summit on Greece >

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4 Comments
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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:14 AM

    That a 500 year leasehold was signed with a private developer in 1997, says a lot about the sad state of public planning in the city.

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    Mute Niamh Hand
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:21 AM

    That’s a good news story to go to bed with. Good on Lord iveagh

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    Mute steve white
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:38 AM

    @Niamh Hand: where was he the last 20 years?

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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:11 AM

    @steve white: 20 years ago a still recent lease agreement was in effect, so he was as powerless to intervene as the rest of us.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Dec 10th 2020, 5:09 AM

    @steve white: dope

    61
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    Mute Chris O'Sullivan
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:47 AM

    @steve white: drinking pints I’d assume

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    Mute the-baldie-lad
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:25 AM

    Hands up if you agree that Alan Kelly is an eejit

    190
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    Mute Mary Nugent
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:25 AM

    @the-baldie-lad: utd fan out in the open was it Leo on the luas

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:22 AM

    Excellent news.

    96
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    Mute DJ François
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    Dec 10th 2020, 10:36 AM

    Be nice to have something along the lines of the English market in Cork

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    Mute muirhill121
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    Dec 10th 2020, 7:49 AM

    Hopefully, he won’t grant another lease to DCC so they can balls it up again!

    58
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    Mute Shay Flynn
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:00 AM

    My dad had a butchers shop there for years.

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    Mute Colm Molloy
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:38 AM

    A market like the ones in Barcelona would be the job there..

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    Mute D Cullen
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    Dec 10th 2020, 8:36 AM

    Should be sequestered by the state along with all lands and properties that were divided amongst the lords of the English elite!

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:15 AM

    @D Cullen: That’d be great if the state were capable of managing the lands and properties. Read the article and you will understand that the State is not up to the job.

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    Mute El Sparko
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:20 AM

    @D Cullen: so the state can then sell it on the ruthless developers and give themselves pay raises??
    No thank, at least Lord Iveagh will do something that benefits the people of Dublin, like he has done many times in the past.

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    Mute Paul
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:46 AM

    @D Cullen: except the Guinness’s are Anglo-Irish not English, just like many of Ireland’s rebel leaders of the past, Pearse / Wolfe Tone etc. The first Lord Iveagh was born is Dublin and is known for providing housing for the poor etc.

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    Mute The world outside the M50
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:06 AM

    His Christian/First name is very odd, don’t you think – ‘Lord’ ??

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