The cost of borrowing for the country slipped below 1% for the first time due to the strong economic recovery here and as borrowing costs in general across the euro zone fall ahead of the ECB's QE programme.

At the height of the financial crisis, the Irish 10 year bond yield jumped to almost 14%.

Ireland's 10-year bond yield has been falling for the last 10 consecutive days, and moved to 0.997% for the first time in its history this morning.

Rates on Italian, Portuguese and Spanish debt also touched all-time lows after euro-area finance chiefs approved an extension of financial aid for Greece a day earlier, driving demand for riskier assets.

Periphery debt has been further boosted by the prospect of the European Central Bank’s €1.1 trillion bond-buying plan, which is due to start next month.