There’s shades of banishing the remaining ghosts of the much-reviled Anglo Irish Bank at its building foot-prints in both Dublin and Cork cities: the Central Bank has started to convert Anglo’s vaunting vanity HQ project to new State service, while Cork’s former Anglo Irish Bank building is getting a re-brand and letting pitch after a multi-million euro purchase.

The country’s coffers are to be boosted by more than €1bn as the proceeds from the sale of Bord Gáis Energy are expected to be lodged with the Government in the first half of the year.