Challenging the banks - At last, a breath of fresh air

Every now and then someone steps out from the crowd and challenges our perceived wisdom, our institutions or our unattractive habit of imagining that taking action is optional once a promise to take action has been made. Someone who rejects the beguiling and often deceitful comforts of the status quo.

Yesterday one such conscientious and brave person put their head above the parapet and challenged one of the most powerful — still — sectors in this society.

Fiona Muldoon, the director of Credit Institutions and Insurance Supervision at the Central Bank, stepped into the lions’ den and spoke at the Irish Banking Federation’s annual conference and challenged our banks to be far more proactive and creative, to embrace a real sense of urgency in tackling the frightening and escalating mortgage crisis.