Despite our predilection to blame the banks for everything bad, the reality is that, while our financial institutions were mostly responsible for our economic crash, they were by no means the only transgressors.

The first expert witness at the Banking Inquiry has said the Government took the “safe decision” to bail out Ireland’s banks.

The Oireachtas banking inquiry officially begins its public hearings this morning - after the news overnight that no member of the European Central Bank will appear before it.

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 European Central Bank has ruled out sending an official or appearing before the Oireachtas banking inquiry as it prepares to begin hearings today.

The long-awaited banking inquiry will begin its hearings before Christmas with testimonies from authors who have previously investigated Ireland’s banking sector collapse.

The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry will begin its public hearings in two weeks' time.

The chairman of the long-awaited banking inquiry has played down concerns that it may not complete its work in the lifetime of this Dáil, but accepted that it will face "significant challenges".

Banks are to be asked to cough up some of the cost of running the banking inquiry which will examine decisions and actions of some of their top executives in the run up to the €440bn state guarantee.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said next year’s proposed banking inquiry should commence before the local elections which are due to be held alongside the European Elections in May.

SHOULD there be a banking inquiry? Yes, of course there should. In fact there must be one. Should it be conducted in parliament? Yes, absolutely. We need to know what happened and how it happened — both within the banks, between the banks and the authorities, and within government. Only a parliamentary inquiry can be as revealing as we need — I’ll tell you why in a minute.

The author of a report into Ireland’s banking meltdown has said he would be “surprised” if next year’s proposed banking inquiry uncovered new information and warned the crisis could be repeated because lessons have not been learned.

WHEN economic historians look back at the first couple of decades of the new millennium, it will be characterised as the great recession which presaged the age of austerity.

The man behind the State's original banking inquiry says there is no new information in the Anglo Tapes.

We must avoid having a politically-charged kangaroo court, such as Iceland had, that found a convenient member of its elite to ‘blame’ for the crisis, writes Michael Clifford

YESTERDAY marked the centenary of the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons at Westminster. We are beginning a decade of commemoration lasting until the centenary of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 2022.

With distrust in our politicians soaring and semi-state and banking chiefs earning huge sums, it’s crucial for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to deliver on his pledge to restore our the public’s faith in them.

THE national preoccupation of living life through the rearview mirror meant that Peter Nyberg’s historic analysis of our economic crisis took precedence over Colm McCarthy’s privatisation prescriptions for state companies.

EVENTS of the past week suggest the obsession with property as an investment vehicle in this country is far from dead.

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”

KEY players in the banking crisis could be hauled before a televised public inquiry after a report on the issue failed to pin the blame on any bankers or politicians for the “financial mania” that gripped the country.

BANK representatives have accepted the role of the various financial institutions in the banking crisis, but said that the resulting problems are already being addressed.

THE auditors charged with examining the books of the banks could have altered the overall outcome of the economic collapse if they had challenged lending practices during the property boom.

The former Finance Minister and Fianna Fáil TD Brian Lenihan has said he accepts the criticism of the previous Government, as outlined on the report published today into the banking crisis.

The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has announced that he has ordered a clearout of bank directors who were on the boards of financial institutions before the bank crisis hit.

A study into the banking crisis by Finnish expert Peter Nyberg has found that lenders at Anglo Irish Bank "commonly ignored their own rules" on loan policy.

Financial authorities had enough information to be suspicious about the property boom but did not understand it or could not foresee the damage, a report has found.

Financial authorities had enough information to be suspicious about the property boom but did not understand it or could not foresee the damage, a report has found.

A report on the causes of the banking crisis is expected to be discussed by the Cabinet this morning.

The Department of Finance has confirmed that €1,000 a day is being paid to the head of the Banking Commission of Investigation.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has announced the appointment of a Finnish expert to head the inquiry into the banking sector.

A banking expert from Finland will investigate Finance Minister Brian Lenihan’s handling of the financial meltdown, the Government confirmed today.

The Government has announced that a former senior official at the Finnish Ministry of Finance has agreed to lead the inquiry into the banks.