The Trichet letters: Noonan received more threats from Trichet

Lenihan left a political booby-trap for Noonan in 2011, but the ECB boss made sure he stepped on it.

Michael Noonan in conversation withJean-Claude Trichet in March2011, a matter of weeks after Noonan became Minister for Finance. Picture: Bloomberg

Brian Lenihan was not the only Irish finance minister to be threatened by Jean-Claude Trichet.

The letters from the then-president of the ECB to Brian Lenihan in November 2010, released last week, explicitly show Trichet’s warnings that he would cut off support for Irish banks if the government did not seek formally seek a bailout ...