In Ireland's case, this could be done as follows, taking the 5% Treasury Bond 2013 as an example.
This bond is due to be repaid on 18/04/2013 and has an outstanding principal of € 6bn.
The nominal interest paid is 5% or €300m per year.
At current market rates, you can buy this bond today for around €90 euro and receive €5 interest in 2012 and 2013 and plus the capital €100 in 2013 giving an effective interest rate of 12%
Rather than paying back the €6bn in 2013, the government could say that, we will contineu to pay the 5% interest, but will not repay the capital until 2033.