Bank guarantee ‘was a government decision’

The 2008 bank guarantee could have been avoided or changed if the government accepted a €10bn offer from other banks to temporarily keep Anglo Irish Bank afloat.

The claim was made at the latest banking inquiry meeting by former Bank of Ireland governors, who also revealed the Central Bank had no plan B if Anglo failed and gave yet another version of the guarantee night.

Richard Burrows, Bank of Ireland governor from 2005 to 2009, told the Dáil group that, after being alerted to the escalating Anglo crisis and its potential impact, he and AIB counterpart Dermot Gleeson set up an emergency meeting with cabinet.