ECB threatened to end funding unless Ireland took bailout, letters show

In a statement on Thursday, the ECB defended its actions."It was not the letter that ‘pushed Ireland into a program’ as is sometimes claimed," the statement said. "It was the scale of the domestic crisis that made it necessary for Ireland to apply for an EU/IMF adjustment program."

But the handling of the crisis by eurozone officials remains highly contentious. Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London, said it was "shocking" to see so little acknowledgement from the president of the ECB that the eurozone creditors who financed Ireland’s property bubble bore some responsibility for the crash.

"Most people that think objectively about the eurozone crisis now fully appreciate that the handling of this was deeply flawed, and that the Irish crisis could have been handled with less damage to the Irish economy," he said.