The phone call that could ‘drop house prices by 80 per cent’ if another financial crisis hits

According to late Irish finance minister Brian Lenihan, that was the message he received on his phone from European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet on September 27, 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.

Three days later, Ireland’s government announced a controversial blanket guarantee of the banks. Over the next two years, the country’s banking and property sectors collapsed, costing taxpayers €64 billion ($100 billion).