'It can't get much worse'

AIB group chief executive Micheal Buckley is under mounting pressure following the sudden resignations of two major figures in Irish banking over the weekend.

Further resignations could follow after the Government warned that a series of scandals involving the country's two largest banks have damaged Ireland's reputation as a financial centre.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the combined effects of the latest controversies on Ireland's financial services industry were horrendous.