British bookmaker Betfred is understood to have expressed interest in bidding for Ladbrokes’ troubled Irish business, the Irish Times reported. Ladbrokes Ireland plans to close 60 of its 196 betting shops and cut 250 of its 850 jobs under a rescue plan being prepared by High Court-appointed examiner Ken Fennell of Deloitte. Irish competitor Boylesports has launched a competing bid for the chain that will see it invest an eight-figure sum in the business, and which it says will result in fewer closures and job losses.

The number of mortgage accounts in arrears for two years or more continued to rise in the first three months of 2015, albeit at a slower pace than seen previously, the Irish Times reported. New figures from the Central Bank show there was an increase of just 155 accounts in arrears for over 720 during the first quarter, as against an increase of 1,729 account for the same period a year earlier. The number of accounts in arrears for over a year fell to 55,470 at the end of March, equivalent to 7.3 per cent of the total stock.

Dublin-listed oil and gas firm Aminex has secured a six month extension for the repayment of its $7.6 million corporate loan facility to allow it to complete ongoing repayment and refinancing discussions, the Irish Times reported. The group now has until January 31st to repay the loan.

Bookmaker Boylesports has challenged rival Ladbrokes Ireland’s restructuring in the High Court, arguing that the process is effectively designed to prevent a takeover of the business, the Irish Times reported. Ladbrokes Ireland is working its way through a rescue plan for the loss-making chain with a High Court-appointed examiner, Ken Fennell of Deloitte. It plans to close up to 60 of its 196 betting shops in the Republic and cut some 250 jobs. Boylesports intends to launch a bid for the entire company.

People struggling with debts they cannot repay should feel no stigma and should not be afraid of making contact with the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI), an Oireachtas committee has been told, the Irish Times reported. Addressing the Justice, Defence and Equality Committee, the head of the ISI Lorcan O’Connor said that there were still 37,000 mortgages in arrears of longer than 720 days and a “lack of engagement” was hampering the resolution of a large number of cases.

Some 300,000 people with standard variable rate (SVR) home loans look set to benefit from reduced monthly mortgage payments from July, the Irish Times reported. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan met this week with the country’s main six lenders – AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank, KBC and ACC – to discuss “the comparatively high standard variable rates currently being charged by the banks”. Mr Noonan said there was agreement from all lenders that customers should have access to more competitively priced mortgages.

A High Court judge has permitted the family of businessman Seán Quinn to proceed with claims in their forthcoming legal action that some €2.34 billion loans by Anglo Irish Bank to various Quinn companies were made for the unlawful purpose of propping up the bank’s share price, the Irish Times reported. However, the Quinns cannot continue to pursue those aspects of their claim alleging the loans are unenforceable, Mr Justice Robert Haughton ruled.

Liquidating one of the Irish banks was “not an option” on the night of the bank guarantee in September 29th 2008, the former Central Bank of Ireland governor John Hurley told the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry Thursday. “I would not have advised any government to take that risk,” Mr Hurley said, adding that other options were discussed, including nationalisation. “You were not going to take such a risk with the economy.” In evidence given to the inquiry in January, the current governor Patrick Honohan, said Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide should have been liquidated by the State.

Members of businessman Sean Quinn’s family have been refused permission by the High Court to make a crucial amendment to their case aimed at avoiding liability for €2.34 billion loans made to Quinn companies by the former Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported.

Assets at the Dublin banking arm of Bank of America Merrill Lynch plunged in 2014, as the bank’s retrenchment in Ireland continued and headcount shrunk by a third. The bank, which was once Ireland’s largest bank by asset size, according to The Irish Times’ business database, Top1000.ie, has now slipped back to 14th in a ranking of Ireland’s largest financial institutions.