Eamon Quinn: Ulster Bank exit will be the second banking crisis for Ireland in a decade

Experts warn an Ulster Bank exit will have far-reaching consequences, both for business and private customers

Ulster Bank Ireland CEO Jane Howard: The silence since September from the Ulster Bank owner over the future of hundreds of staff north and south will go down as a particularly cruel episode in the history of corporate decision-making in Ireland. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

An exit of Ulster Bank from the Republic marks the second banking crisis in 10 years, with grim consequences for customers of all banks, leading industry figures and banking economists have warned.

The countdown to the decision taken by Ulster Bank’s owner, the NatWest Group in Britain, had taken an extraordinarily long time.