Dublin says to honour Anglo Irish senior bonds

DUBLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The Irish government will not default on any of nationalised Anglo Irish Bank's senior bonds because it would endanger the sovereign's own funding prospects, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

'We have done liability management exercises with subordinated bonds already,' Lenihan told journalists at a briefing on the future of Anglo Irish Bank.

'The state is not going to default on senior bonds because of the threat that that would pose for the raising of funds for the state itself,' Lenihan said.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Ron Askew) Keywords: IRELAND/BANKS MINISTER ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.