Irish bond sale, Irish exodus

“Markets rally after €1.5bn in Government bonds sold,” headlines the Irish Times. Following weeks of speculation across the euro zone over Ireland’s solvency, its eighth auction of bonds this year went through, but at a price. Interest rates exceed 6% on eight-year bonds and just under 5% on four-year bonds, nearly three times that German's rate. “The sale coincided with new figures showing a rise in Irish emigration and small decline in the numbers at work in the State,” the Dublin daily notes. According to latest statistics, 35,000 people left the country between April and June, the highest rate since 1989, at the peak of the last recession.