The Anglo tapes story has put Ireland on the international news agenda for all the wrong reasons this week.

Data from O'Leary Analytics has found that as of this morning, there were 1,513 articles across 650 publications printed in 48 different countries on the issue, after Independent.ie released the tapes on Monday of this week.

Der Spiegel runs the headline "Nothing but contempt"

Those figures were taken before German Chancellor Angela Merkel commented on the tapes last night.

Stephen O'Leary from O'Leary Analytics says this is one of the top 10 international stories involving Ireland in the last 12 months

Die Welt says Merkel has only "contempt" left

Last night, German Chancellor Angela Merkela described the conversations contained in the tapes as 'contemptible', and warned they damage democracy.