NEARLY 30 years after its first major scandal and bailout — and after a number of others along the way — we arrive at this: the country’s largest bank nationalised and retreating deeper into the protection of the taxpayer.

FORMER internal auditor at AIB Eugene McErlean has accepted an apology from the bank’s top brass, adding that he has moved on from feeling any animosity towards the bank.

Allied Irish Bank chief executive Michael Buckley was never expected to make it this far, but AIB’s recent record results and successful Polish push suggest he might make it to retirement, Kyran Fitzgerald reports.

M&T BANK, the American regional bank in which AIB has a 22.5% stake, said it was on course to meet full-year expectations after it delivered profits of $184 million (€150m), a 39% increase on the same period last year.