one of the criticism levelled by some in the Irish bail-out was that Ireland had to use its taxpayers cash to pay up on its guarantee of the Irish banks before it could get the bail-out.
The terms of the Irish bail-out was mainly due to the concern that if Ireland did not stand by its banks it could spark a further crisis of confidence in European debt as many other European banks had lent money to those banks. There was a further concern the contagion of defaulting Irish banks could also badly affect the currency market, notably the Euro.
Amongst the grumbling during the bail-out negotiations was talk of bondholders taking a haircut and this seems to be where the European mechanism may go in future.
The suggested European Stability Mechanism in 2013 could mean bond holders in banks would have to lose at least part of their money rather than have the risk underwritten by European Governments. This may not be liked by the markets and it may push interest rates higher but it seems difficult to argue with the principle.