The Bank of Ireland was under fire from the Consumer Council today for treating its customers in the North less well than in the Republic.

The North's Consumer Council is calling on the Bank of Ireland to remove all charges from its personal current accounts in Northern Ireland.

Staff at National Irish and Northern Banks must be protected if the institutions are sold, a leading finance union warned today.

The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has held a strategy meeting about the future of National Irish and Northern Banks.