MICHAEL NOONAN has been urged to publish letters which were sent by the then-president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, to Brian Lenihan in the run-up to Ireland’s Bailout.

The Minister for Finance told today’s Sunday Independent that while he did not have the power to tell his Freedom of Information staff to release the document, he favoured its release for any inquiries into Ireland’s banking collapse.

Fianna Fáil has asked Noonan to publish the document immediately, though others commenting on the story on TheJournal.ie this morning believe the matter is now in the past – and publishing the letters would serve no useful purpose.

(Edit: Some of the reasons both in favour and against releasing the documents are summarised by the Department of Finance in a response to a Freedom of Information request lodged by this website last year.)

We wonder what you think: Should the documents be published, and their full contents revealed to the public – or would doing so only threaten to undermine Ireland’s relationship with the ECB, as well as cause political instability?

Should the ECB’s letters sent just before the bailout be published?

Read: Will Noonan publish the ECB letter that forced Ireland into a bailout?