BUNDESBANK president Dr Hans Tietmeyer failed to meet the punctuality criteria when his plane touched down in Dublin last night, over an hour behind schedule. Dr Tietmeyer, who is literally on a flying visit to Dublin, headed directly for the Central Bank.

However, the question on everyone's lips today is does Germany want EMU to start on time and will Ireland meet the criteria?

Earlier yesterday, Dr Tietmeyer said he hopped Ireland would meet tile criteria, although he did point out that the level of the national debt still remained high. Speaking in a radio interview, he said he understood the difficulties for Ireland's EMU membership because of trade links with Britain, whose participation in EMU is in doubt.

But he stressed that this was not just a question of a relationship with one country. It was a matter of developing sound economic policies.

In this regard, he said, Ireland was moving in the right direction.

Dr Tietmeyer will have a very heavy schedule for his 24 hours in Dublin.

Following his arrival last night he was taken directly to the Central Bank's offices in the city centre where he dined with the board, including governor Mr Maurice O'Connell and the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn.

This morning he is having breakfast with 300 members of the German/Irish Chamber of Commerce before meeting the Institute of European Affairs, where he will address over 150 people. It will be followed by lunch with the National Treasury Management Agency.