Daunting challenges facing Spain's banks and its economy will be the next big pressure point for the eurozone, with obvious implications for Ireland, a leading sovereign bond-watcher has warned.

Luca Cazzulani, director at UniCredit Bank in Milan, said the difficulties facing peripheral bond markets, including Ireland, Spain and Portugal, will not lessen in the short term. Ireland is fighting to stay outside the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.

Cazzulani's warning came as credit ratings agency Moody's said it will travel to Dublin in the coming weeks to assess the creditworthiness of Ireland, as finance minister Brian Lenihan prepares to submit his four-year austerity plan in early November, as demanded by Brussels

Dietmar Hornung at Moody's, which earlier this month put Ireland on watch for a possible downgrade, said the revised fiscal plan would be "the key element" in its review.

He told the Sunday Tribune that Moody's would also assess the prospects for economic growth here and examine "to a lesser degree" market conditions in reaching its decision.

Last week, Irish sovereign bonds remained the sixth-riskiest in the world. As revealed by the Sunday Tribune last month, Irish bonds are more costly to insure against default than Iraq's.

Cazzulani said the hurdles raised by Spain's crisis were "significant" but remained "manageable".