Stringent ECB stress tests will turn spotlight on strength of Irish banks

Going by the details provided by the ECB, the forthcoming asset quality review and stress test of the banking system is intrusive enough to restore confidence among investors.

The successful and credible completion of this exercise is crucial if the eurozone is to return to some sort of normality.

The European Banking Authority presided over region-wide stress tests in 2010 that passed all the Irish banks, even though they were subsequently nationalised.