Rescue remedies for Ireland’s battered banks

IT was reported last week that Irish banks were looking at diverse ways of shoring up their capital positions in a bid to avoid taking state funds or asking shareholders for money.

Certainly the Government is showing no mad sense of urgency about taking shares in the banks.

That position has been articulated from the top down, with both the Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his Finance Minister Brian Lenihan making it clear that buying into the banks would be a last resort.