Ireland

Ireland's three-year bailout ordeal ended this weekend, a victory in its battle against bankruptcy. But while the government is ready to finance itself without aid, the Irish can't yet escape what has become Europe's longest-running austerity program, the Associated Press reported. The Irish faced ruin in 2010, when the runaway cost of a bank-bailout program begun two years earlier destroyed the country's ability to borrow at affordable rates. To the rescue came fellow European nations and the International Monetary Fund with a three-year loan package worth 67.5 billion euros ($93 billion).

Retroactive recapitalisation of the Irish banks “doesn’t seem very likely”, the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, has said, striking a blow to Ireland’s campaign to receive retrospective aid for AIB and Bank of Ireland, the Irish Times reported. Speaking last night in Brussels, the head of the euro zone’s rescue fund said that, while the process does not require treaty change, it is a “very complicated process” which requires unanimity by member states.

Aer Lingus is threatening legal action if Siptu goes ahead with a strike in the latest twist in the ongoing row over the €780 million hole in the pension fund that it operates jointly with Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the Irish Times reported. Siptu is set to begin balloting members in the airline and airport operator next week for industrial action as the trade union says there is growing frustration over the delay in resolving the dispute.

The Irish government said Wednesday the sale at a profit of a huge investment in Bank of Ireland that was made at the height of the debt crisis will boost confidence in the country as it prepares to exit its international bailout in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Central Bank has given the country’s main lenders until next June to put in place mortgage debt solutions for 75 per cent of customers more than 90 days in arrears, the Irish Times reported. The new targets, agreed in conjunction with the EU-IMF troika, also stipulate the number level of “concluded solutions” on the banks’ books must reach 35 per cent by the same date. There are just under 100,000 Irish mortgage accounts more than 90 days behind in their repayments.

Bank of Ireland successfully raised €580 million of equity today as part of a deal to repay €1.8 billion of its State bailout, the Irish Times reported. Under its original €4.8 billion bailout back in 2009, Bank of Ireland had been entitled to purchase the 1.8 million preference shares back from the Government at €1 each before March 31st, 2014. After that date, the price would have risen to €1.25 a share, which would increase the total cost to the bank to €2.25 billion. Today’s issuance will redeem €537 million of the Government’s shares.

Changes to legislation reducing the State’s bankruptcy term from 12 years to three were announced today by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, the Irish Times reported. Announcing the package of measures, the Minister said they “complete the reform of our personal insolvency and bankruptcy legislation”. Mr Shatter said the measures “will address the circumstances of insolvent debtors”. “Critically, there will now be automatic discharge from bankruptcy after three years from the date of adjudication – a significant reduction from the current 12 years,” he said.

The legal action by the liquidators of stockbroking firm Bloxham over alleged underinsuring of the firm has resumed at the High Court after efforts to mediate failed, the Irish Times reported. The sides had last week taken up a suggestion by president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, to consider mediation but they told the judge yesterday that it had not worked and the case was proceeding. The liquidators have sued the firm’s former insurance broker, Robertson Low, for more than €15 million damages arising from Bloxham allegedly being “chronically underinsured”.

Bank of Ireland’s capital adequacy ratios have suffered a sharper than expected drop after the Central Bank of Ireland said following an industrywide review that the Bank of Ireland needed to make extra loan loss provisions, the Irish Times reported. The health checks, carried out just before Ireland exits its EU/IMF bailout, are seen as a preview for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) own tests of euro zone banks next year, when capital holes running to 10s of billions of euros are expected to be uncovered.

Irish clothing retail chain A-Wear has fallen into receivership, with some of its stores set to close, Just Style reported. Ken Fennell of Kavanagh Fennell has been appointed receiver to the business, less than two months after Latzur Ltd, which trades as A-Wear, entered examinership. Fennell said the initial examinership process was aimed at putting the business on "a sustainable footing", and protecting "as many jobs as possible". Sales projections for the business in the intervening weeks, however, did not materialise, Fennell said, with "no viable investment proposal forthcoming".