Many questions unanswered on banks’ prior knowledge of crisis

THE latest revelations in the taped conversations between two Anglo Irish Bank executives are explosive.

It is not possible to jump to any firm conclusions based on a few minutes of an incomplete exchange, but what has entered the public domain conflicts with the official narrative of what happened on the night of the bank guarantee.

The reason this country was forced into a humiliating EU/IMF bailout in Nov 2010 was because the State could no longer fund itself at sustainable rates on the markets. And that was because it had backstopped the huge contingent liabilities sitting on the balance sheets of Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Nationwide, Bank of Ireland, AIB and Irish Life and Permanent, owners of Permanent TSB.