Jim Power: Ulster Bank's exit ratchets up risks for Covid-hit Irish economy   

The withdrawal has left us with major headaches, not least a concentration of banking muscle in fewer hands. Jim Power mulls over what it all means, and concludes the State needs to take radical action now

The Ulster Bank branch on Patrick St, Cork, one of 88 branches around the country. 

When one lives through momentous change, it is often easy to fail to notice it happening. Irish banking is a case in point.

Over the past decade or so we have seen a dramatic decline in the number of financial institutions operating in Ireland, and the banking landscape has been totally and utterly transformed.