Timothy Geithner really screwed Ireland. He was probably under a lot of pressure to maintain the illusion that banking debt was more secure than it actually was in that time period (along with his colleagues in the ECB), but it was still no excuse for the Irish Government to bow to the external pressure. My generation will be paying for this mistake for decades. The correct move was to "do an Iceland" and wipe out the unsustainable bank debt.

Here's one article (not the best source but there are others available):

http://www.irishcentral.com/story/roots/the_american_in_irel...

And another: http://www.businessinsider.com/morgan-kelly-irish-default-20...

And here's the story of how a dodgy deal lead to the former (now deceased) Irish Minister of Finance enacting the blanket bank guarantee (this single meeting is the reason the country is so screwed):

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-...