Irish fin min says demand for new bond 'extraordinary'

DUBLIN, March 13 (Reuters) - Ireland saw "extraordinary" demand for its first benchmark 10-year bond since its 2010 bailout on Wednesday, prompting it to sell 5 billion euros of debt rather than the 3 billion originally planned, its finance minister said on Wednesday.

"Its an extraordinary result," said Michael Noonan, who said the country now has most of the money it needs to fund itself in 2014.

"This brings us within about a billion and a half (euros) towards what we need," he said. "That puts us in a very strong position."