Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that tomorrow's euro zone summit on a new bail-out for Greece will not be 'the be-all-and-end-all.
'The crisis in the euro area will not be resolved overnight,' Mr Kenny said. 'There is no one magic solution or silver bullet.
'In our work tomorrow, we will focus on taking forward what was agreed at last week's meeting of Finance Ministers, which has been the subject of serious work by officials since.
'The results of this on-going work - which will be taken forward by a meeting of key senior officials in Brussels later today - will form the basis of discussions tomorrow.
Mr Kenny said that his priority will be to ensure an agreement with positive implications for Ireland.
'I will be watching carefully and working to ensure that what is agreed for Greece does not in any way make our progress and eventual return to the markets more difficult,' he said.
'I will be working to ensure that any element of the new arrangements for Greece that might be of benefit to us is given wider application.
'This week's meeting will not resolve all matters. But I hope that it will demonstrate the capacity to act in a way that begins to restore confidence and momentum, and that arms us well for what lies ahead.
Mr Kenny said that he hoped the meeting would restore markets' faith.
'I do hope that what comes out of tomorrow's meeting will be the start of a series of decisions taken by the euro zone leaders which will restore confidence, restore certainty, (and) deal with the issue of the legitimate anxiety and concern about contagion spreading from the Greek situation which simply has to be dealt with.
'What I want to see tomorrow is a series of decisions that will start to bring about certainty in the investment markets both in European countries and in our country,' Kenny said.
Lagarde to attend summit
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde will attend tomorrow's European summit, an IMF spokesman said.
It will be Lagarde's first international appearance as IMF managing director since she took office on 5 July.
Previously, she was deeply involved in the euro zone financial crisis, and the first €110 billion IMF-European Union bail-out of Greece, as France's finance minister.
The IMF has urged the EU to reach a quick decision on a plan for Greece, saying the longer it waits and negotiates, the greater the danger of a debt 'contagion' hurting the entire EU and global economy.
European Commission president Jose Manual Barroso warned today that the euro zone faces a 'very serious situation' and laid out what he sees as the minimum that must be done at tomorrow’s crisis summit in Brussels.
'It requires a response, otherwise the negative consequence will be felt in all corners of Europe and beyond,' Barroso said.
‘The minimum we must do tomorrow is to provide clarity on the following: measures to ensure the sustainability of Greek public finances; feasibility and limits of private sector involvement; scope for more flexible action through the European Financial Stability Facility; repair of the banking sector still needed; and measures to ensure the provision of liquidity to our banking system.'
ECB economist says buy-back might work
The European Central Bank's chief economist said today that a proposal for an EU rescue fund to buy Greek bonds might work but that markets would likely still feel Athens had defaulted on its debt.
Juergen Stark told the German financial daily Boersen-Zeitung in comments to appear tomorrow that he 'personally sees no risk of a credit event, or credit downgrade', if the European Financial Stability Facility bought Greek sovereign bonds on secondary markets.
A 'credit event' would trigger the payment of insurance on sovereign bonds known as credit default swaps, meaning that markets considered Athens to have defaulted on some of its €350 billion in debt.
Stark allowed, however, that market participants could well conclude a default had taken place if the EFSF bought Greek bonds.
