It was a positive day for Ireland as the NTMA sold €5 billion worth of the new bonds at a yield of about 4.15%.

In July 2011, the yield on the same bond had stood at more than 15%.

Today’s auction marked Ireland’s return to the long-term debt markets since soaring yields forced it to take a €85 billion bailout in 2010.

Its return to the long-term bond markets has been helped by a sharp fall in Irish bond yields over the past 18 months. This is expected to lead the way for a return to regular bond auctions later this year.

What was also unique about today’s bond auction is the fact that it trades below the equivalent levels of Spanish and Italian government bonds. Both countries avoided sovereign bailouts.