Minister: Ireland will clearly need outside aid

Ireland will clearly need some form of external assistance to address the problems in its banking sector, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Thursday before a joint European/IMF mission arrives in Dublin.

"We have to address the problems in our banking sector, we cannot function without a functioning banking system and it's clear that we will need some form of external assistance to address the difficulties there," Lenihan told national broadcaster RTE in an interview. (Reuters)