The Department of Finance is furious at a report on one of the world's most famous websites linking rioting in Northern Ireland with the downgrading of the Irish economy.

American news website the Drudge Report last week featured pictures of rioting men in front of burning cars holding aloft a tricolour under the headline of 'Ireland Downgraded'. The damaging report featured for at least several hours on the site, which attracts millions of visitors every week.

The photograph accompanying the headline had been taken during rioting in the marching season in the north, and had nothing to do with the Irish economic crisis.

However, the picture and headline were used to link directly to a report in the Irish Times on a decision by the credit rating agency Moody's to downgrade Ireland's government bond rating.

The juxtaposition of the photo and headline could have had a seriously damaging effect on the Irish economy, implying that rioting had now broken
out in the Republic due to economic measures.

The Department of Finance said it had not made official contact with the Drudge Report to register any complaint. However, it is known that senior officials and ministers were made aware of the problem and were deeply unhappy that a picture was being painted of a Greek-style crisis of rioting and demonstrations in the Republic.

Attempts to get a comment from the Drudge Report met with no response.

Throughout Monday morning, the story had been the lead on the website, with the grim photograph of burning cars and hooded men above the two-word headline being the first thing visitors to the site were met with.

The story and photo then vanished entirely from the site a few hours later with suspicion pointing towards an intervention by the Irish government.

However, the Department of Finance said that while it had been informed of what happened, the story had already disappeared by the time it could take action.

The department said it had not made official contact with the Drudge Report and believed damage to Ireland's international reputation would be minimal.

A spokesman said: "We became aware of Drudge's reporting of the downgrade during the week. We did not directly contact the Drudge Report as we could not find the photo linked to the story on the website.

"It is highly unlikely that this photo would have had an impact in terms of investment as international investors would have primarily obtained this news through the reporting of wire agencies and we provided briefing to these agencies about the downgrading."

The Drudge Report is one of the most famous of all websites. The right-leaning news service came to international prominence when it broke the story of Bill Clinton's sexual liaison with Monica Lewinsky.