GERMANY’S MINISTER for European affairs has praised Ireland’s efforts to tackle its economic crisis during a visit to Dublin.

“I think there is a deeply rooted trust and confidence in this country’s ability to sort out its problems after it has been such a success story for the last decade,” Werner Hoyer said yesterday. “There is a fundamental belief that the Irish are going to solve it, and if we can be helpful we should do that – it is in our own interest.”

During his two-day visit, Mr Hoyer met his Irish counterpart Dick Roche to discuss bilateral relations; co-operation in the areas of economic and social policy at EU level; and the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

Asked about Greece’s economic travails, Mr Hoyer said it was now a question of “strength of government” on the part of Athens and “its resolve to write the bitter prescription”.

“We are going to be helpful wherever they want . . . but we are going to insist that they really implement what they have subscribed to now. As a matter of fact, we are quite happy with the government of George Papandreou, who is trying to solve this problem under awful circumstances.”

The Greek premier, he said, had taken a “courageous” position.

“He has resolved to co-operate closely with the ECB and the commission, and that is the right way to do it. I think it is necessary to calm the markets for the next couple of months in order to keep the situation from getting out of control,” Mr Hoyer added.

The minister acknowledged that popular opinion in Germany had hardened against Greece.

“Reaction on the streets in Munich or Cologne would be, well, they cheated, they have been living beyond their means for so long that there is no reason to be of assistance,” Mr Hoyer said.

“[But] people who are a little bit more into the complexities of the financial system, they see what can happen if we do not find a solution that accommodates the Greek government in trying to solve or reduce the problem.”

Mr Hoyer said the global economic crisis had showed the benefits of a common currency.

“Although the situation is very serious with Greece, if you take the broader picture we in Germany are thanking God all the time that Europe had the euro at the time when the financial crisis hit us,” he said.

“We are convinced that our markets would have gone out of control if we had a national currency. So the euro in itself, in the broader picture, helped us all a lot.”