FOR sheer brass neck, it is hard to match the haughty insouciance of the former Irish Nationwide boss Michael Fingleton.

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who presided over the country’s slide into economic chaos, has blamed bankers as the main culprits.

Former financial regulator Patrick Neary has pointed the “finger of responsibility” at government, the Central Bank, financial institutions, the ESRI, and Europe for what politicians have said was his own failure to do his job.

The former governor of the Central Bank, John Hurley, is appearing before the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry this morning.

The departure of Patrick Honohan from the Central Bank caps a week where the Irish public saw the true reality of central bank independence.

A former advisor to Brian Lenihan has claimed the property market had crashed nearly a year before anyone realised.

The banking crisis could have been avoided if the banks had not engaged in so much property lending, the banking inquiry has heard.

Ireland effectively told the European Commission "don't bother us" when it was warned the economy was at grave risk of overheating seven years before its eventual nosedive, a top EC chief has said.

A leading academic has described as astonishing the politics that led to the 2008 bank guarantee which covered the country’s six biggest financial institutions.

An international finance expert is addressing the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry today.

Trinity economics professor, Philip Lane, has undertaken a piece of work that will be every bit as valuable in understanding the nature of the recent banking crisis as the unfolding Oireachtas Banking inquiry.

Banks have been ordered to reveal full records of any links between bonuses for top officials and the volume of property loans during the boom as part of the State’s investigation into the economic crash.

The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry are holding their second public meetings today. Follow live coverage below. Former Canadian Deputy Minister Rob Wright is currently speaking about his 2012 report into the Department of Finance.

The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry are holding their first public meetings today as part of the inquiry context phase are meeting with Finnish academic and finance expert Peter Nyberg.

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has called on the ECB to "man up" and take questions at the Oireachtas banking inquiry.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s attempt to distance himself from any responsibility for the economic crisis has ignited angry calls for him to accept his role in the downturn.

Two Fine Gael Ministers have backed a call for the former President of the European Central Bank to be brought before an Oireachtas Banking Inquiry.