Ireland faces rating dowgrade

That generous blanket deposit guarantee from the Irish government is starting to look a little silly.

Ireland has become the first western European country to have its top-notch credit rating given a negative outloook by Moody’s Investors Service, in a further sign of the strains being put on national economies by the financial crisis.

Ireland has already been given a warning that it could soon lose its triple-A status by rival agency Standard & Poor’s, which has already downgraded Spain, Greece and Portugal in recent weeks.

(from the FT)