While the main focus has been on headline makers Italy and Greece in the unfolding euro crisis, the Irish position in this unenviable league table will come into sharper focus this week as Taoiseach Enda Kenny meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
Kenny's first official visit to Germany, planned for Wednesday, follows criticism from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who said the taoiseach hasn't held a substantive meeting with a European leader since taking office, the Irish Examiner reported.
It also comes as Irish European Affairs minister, Lucinda Creighton, called on Germany to "review its position" and allow the European Central Bank to become a lender of last resort to save the euro, the report stated.
Germany is resisting such a move for fear it would bring about the sort of hyperinflation that ruined the country's economy after the First World War. This could happen in part due to the printing of currency by the ECB.
But, according to the Examiner report, Creighton said that Germany "is going to have to change that position that they have and I believe that position will change."
On Friday, Micheál Martin issued a statement accusing the Fine Gael/Labour government of "sitting on the sidelines" and proposing a statement from Ireland calling on the European Central Bank to give a commitment to embracing the role of lender of last resort.
