108-483: Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. ( Irish : Bainc-Aontas Éireann ) is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in the Republic of Ireland . AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, travel and car. It offers life assurance and pensions through its tied agency with Irish Life Assurance plc . In December 2010
216-499: A 10/– coin , a commemorative piece not meant for circulation) – all but the 3d and 6d had the same dimensions as their British counterparts, the Irish coins being thicker nickel coins in contrast to the thin silver ones issued in the UK. However, sterling specie generally continued to be accepted on a one-for-one basis everywhere, whereas Irish coin was not generally accepted in
324-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
432-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
540-523: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
648-751: A branch in London. Royal Bank of Ireland (RBI) commenced operations in 1836, becoming known for its mercantile links. Shaw's Bank later merged with Royal Bank in 1837. In 1864, the Munster Bank was established. In 1867, the Munster Bank purchased some of the branches of the unsuccessful Union Bank of Ireland. In 1870, The Munster Bank acquired the David La Touche & Son bank. In 1885, the Munster Bank failed due to debt and ran out of cash, causing it to close all of its branches. Also in 1885, The Munster and Leinster Bank commenced operations. In 1923,
756-593: A carving on a Celtic cross at Killary Church near Lobinstown in County Meath , which dates from the 9th century. Allied Irish Banks Limited was formed in 1966 as a new company that acquired three Irish banks: Provincial Bank of Ireland , the Royal Bank of Ireland , and the Munster & Leinster Bank . In 1966, AIB's aggregate assets were IR£ 255 million (€323.8 million)—as at 31 December 2005,
864-520: A continuation of the insurance business and to protect policyholders. AIB claimed that it could not resolve the problems of ICI without putting its core banking business in jeopardy. The investment of £85 million by AIB in ICI was written off and the cost to the Irish taxpayer was £400 million. On 9 September 2010 AIB reached agreement to sell a 66% stake in BZ-WBK to Santander for €3.1 billion,
972-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
1080-486: A currency trader at Allfirst, racked up losses of almost US$ 700 million during Michael Buckley's tenure as group chief executive. It was Ireland's biggest banking scandal and the fourth-biggest banking scandal in the world when it came to light on 4 February 2002. The €90 million settlement that AIB reached with the Revenue Commissioners in respect of Deposit Interest Retention Tax evasion in 2000
1188-669: A deal merging Allfirst with M&T Bank Corporation, which is headquartered in Buffalo, New York . In November 2010, AIB sold its 22.5% stake (26.7 million shares) in M&;T. The shares were sold at US$ 77.50 per share and generated $ 2.1 billion. The sale was part of AIB's effort to raise capital amidst the ongoing financial crisis in Ireland. AIB maintains its current US customer treasury services from its branch in New York. At
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#17328015627031296-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1404-574: A donation of €20.6 million on behalf of its customers to an unspecified charity that it was unable to identify. No employee or officer of the banks was disciplined. Apart from FX, the Central Bank of Ireland discovered in 2004, following an anonymous tip-off, that AIB overcharged customers €8.6 million. No regulatory action was taken. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
1512-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
1620-582: A meeting with them but was only invited to withdraw the allegations of wrongdoing and at the same time found himself removed from his position at AIB without any reason given. After his case was highlighted in the media, the Central Bank officially apologised on how the authorities treated him, eight years after alerting them of overcharging. AIB announced on 27 September 2006 that the final outlay in respect of restitution and interest arising from overcharging amounted to €65 million and that this included
1728-407: A new logo (prompted, it was said in some quarters, by the remarkable similarity between its previous logo and that of Mercedes-Benz .) Since then, the bank has preferred to be referred to as "AIB", though "Allied Irish Banks plc" remains its legal name. The bank is often referred to colloquially as "AIB Bank", an example of a redundant acronym . This is due to the name "AIB Bank" being adopted for
1836-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1944-489: A part of the Bank Recapitalisation Scheme . Over several further tranches, the total bailout of AIB (including EBS ) amounted to €20.7 billion. In June 2017, the Irish government completed an IPO of Allied Irish Banks. In December 2021, when the company was valued less than 6 billion euro on the public market, the government announced it would start gradually selling its stake. The CEO of AIB
2052-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
2160-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
2268-492: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
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#17328015627032376-418: A significant extent on the international financial markets for liquidity due to an insufficient deposit base, this has impacted the bank severely. The Irish government stepped in with a guarantee which effectively granted a triple A rating on AIB debt, thus freeing up its access to finance . The second and more serious problem, unacknowledged by bank management, the financial regulator and the Irish government,
2484-603: A single product mortgage business, but the company is expanding the range of banking products. All AmCredit's mortgage customers automatically became customers of the AIB branch in their country. The goal of AIB is to become a full service customer focused bank in the Baltic region. The branch in Latvia was operating between 26 November 2007 (date of registration) and 20 September 2012 (date of liquidation). Its mortgage portfolio of 800 loans
2592-512: A substantial sum largely due to property-related losses incurred by its Irish subsidiary, National Irish Bank . Write downs by the domestically owned Irish banks are only now beginning to take place. AIB's subsidiary Goodbody Stockbrokers continually issued "buy" recommendations for its then parent, notwithstanding its worsening financial position, and used Client Discretionary mandates to invest their monies in Allied Irish Banks at
2700-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
2808-768: Is solvency . The question concerning solvency has arisen due to domestic problems in the crashing Irish property market . AIB, like most Irish financial institutions, has substantial exposure to property developers in their loan portfolio. These property developers are currently suffering from gross over-supply of property, much still unsold, while demand has evaporated. The massive immigration from Eastern Europe which had propped up demand has now reversed due to rapidly rising unemployment in Ireland. Irish property developers own speculated billions of euros of overvalued land parcels such as urban brownfield and greenfield sites, and also agricultural land at an average value of €23,600 per acre (US$ 32,000 per acre or €60,000 per hectare ) which
2916-659: Is Colin Hunt since March 2019. Jim Pettigrew was appointed chair of the board in October 2021. AIB has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank . Allied Irish Banks is usually referred to, both inside and outside the company, simply as AIB and often by its trade name of "Allied Irish Bank" (singular). In Northern Ireland,
3024-603: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
3132-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
3240-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
3348-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
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3456-402: Is several multiples above the value of equivalent land in other European countries. AIB correctly identify a systematic risk of triggering an even more severe financial crisis in Ireland if they were to call in the loans as they fall due. The loans are subject to terms and conditions, referred to as "covenants". Although AIB is not one of the banks listed as waiving these covenants, confidence in
3564-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
3672-666: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
3780-520: The COVID-19 pandemic , 80% of its workforce had been working from home. Some branches will also be merged. The former Minister for Finance Pascal Donohoe said that the government would be selling its 71% stake in the bank, with the sell-off beginning in January 2022. In June 2024, it was announced that the government's ownership had reduced to 25% as part of a recent share sale. John Rusnak ,
3888-576: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
3996-603: The United Kingdom , but the Irish pound continued to circulate until January 1826. Between 1804 and 1813, silver tokens worth 10d were issued by the Bank of Ireland and were denominated in pence Irish. The last copper coins of the Irish pound were minted in 1823, and in 1826 the Irish pound was merged with the pound sterling. After 1826, some Irish banks continued to issue paper currency, but these were denominated in sterling, and no more distinctly Irish coins were minted until
4104-405: The 10/– note was replaced by a 50p coin due to spiralling inflation. The new 5p coin correlated with the shilling coin, and the new 10p coin correlated with the florin coin. New coins were issued of the same dimensions and materials as the corresponding new British coins. The Decimal Currency Act 1970 made additional provisions for the changeover not related with the issue of coins. Decimalisation
4212-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
4320-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
4428-606: The 1p, 2p and 5p (although it was not exactly the same as the British 5p). On 31 December 1998, the exchange rates between the European Currency Unit and the Irish pound and 10 other EMS currencies (all but the pound sterling, the Swedish krona and the Danish krone) were fixed. The fixed conversion factor for the Irish pound was EUR 1.00 = IEP 0.787564. Of the 15 national currencies originally tied to
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4536-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
4644-530: The AIB Group had assets of €133 billion. In the 1980s the introduction of their Automatic Teller Machine Network called Banklink just shortly after the Bank of Ireland Pass. ATMs were only available in cities and major towns in the 1980s but arrived into smaller and medium towns during the 1990s. In 1825, Provincial Bank commenced operations, pioneering joint stock branch banking in Ireland. It also established
4752-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
4860-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
4968-578: The Irish banking system is low as a result of other Irish banks electing to waive these financial safeguards in fear of provoking the (inevitable) bankruptcy of many property developers and banks are thought to be " lending some developers further cash to pay their interest bills, which means that they are not classified as 'bad debts' by the banks ." Furthermore, AIB's balance sheet indicated only limited impairment (bad debt) provisions. Their 2008 1st half financial report only accounts for an impairment provision of 0.21%. This does not appear to be consistent with
5076-933: The Irish government took a majority stake in the bank, which eventually grew to 99.8%. AIB's shares are currently traded on the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, but its shares were delisted from these exchanges between 2011 and 2017, following its effective nationalisation. The remainder of its publicly traded shares were listed on the Enterprise Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange until 23 June 2017. AIB also owns Allied Irish Bank (GB) in Great Britain and AIB (NI) in Northern Ireland. In November 2010, it sold its 22.5% stake in M&;T Bank in
5184-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
5292-620: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
5400-416: The Republic of Ireland branch banking business at the time of the 1990 rebrand (with the word "Bank" being printed in the green stripe in the logo). This version of the logo is no longer used in print advertising but can still be seen on the façades of most AIB branches in the Republic. The 'Trustee Savings Banks' similarly rebranded to "TSB Bank" in 1993. The new logo features a depiction of Noah's Ark , after
5508-753: The Royal Bank of Ireland bought the Irish Free State business of the Belfast Banking Company , which in turn bought the Northern Ireland business of the Royal Bank. The Can of Worms at ICI was the headline in Business & Finance magazine on 8 November 1984. The Insurance Corporation of Ireland (ICI) was a wholly owned subsidiary of AIB when it collapsed in 1985 with losses of over IR£ 200 million. When it
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#17328015627035616-543: The United Kingdom, except in parts of Northern Ireland . The name of the state was officially changed to "Ireland" ( Irish : Éire ) on the coming into force of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 December 1937. On 10 May 1938, the name of the currency became the Irish pound. The Report of the Metric System and Decimal Coinage Committee (1959) was amongst the first formal reports on decimalisation of
5724-514: The United States. At the beginning of 2008 AIB entered the Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian markets by acquiring AmCredit mortgage finance business from the Baltic ;– American Enterprise Fund. This stake was sold at a loss to Swedbank in 2012. In 2009, Allied Irish Banks along with its competitor Bank of Ireland accepted a €3.5 billion bailout from the government of Ireland as
5832-489: The approval of existing shareholders. The High Court subsequently approved the deal on 24 Dec 2010, allowing the Irish government to take a 49.9% stake in the bank, rising to 92.8% following disposal of the Polish subsidiary to Banco Santander . AIB became the fourth of Ireland's "Big Six" financial institutions to be nationalised, following Anglo Irish Bank , Irish Nationwide Building Society , and EBS Building Society . AIB
5940-573: The balance of the shares to be sold on the open market. Any purchase over 66% would have forced Santander to make an offer to buy the entire company. Between 1999 and 2001 AIB had an interest in Keppel TatLee Bank in Singapore , but withdrew after Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) acquired it. After suffering large losses due to the activities of rogue trader John Rusnak at Allfirst (see below) in April 2003, AIB completed
6048-417: The bank announced record pre-tax profits of €1.7 billion, a 23% rise on the previous year and the largest ever for an Irish bank. The majority of the increase came from its Republic of Ireland operations, but with its Capital Markets in Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Poland and American divisions also making significant contributions. This led to criticism from some newspapers, as their profit per customer
6156-456: The bank traded as First Trust Bank until November 2019, while in Great Britain, it is called "Allied Irish Bank (GB)"—the only part of the operation where the full name, in the singular, is still in day-to-day use. Initially, the bank operated under the names of its former constituent companies, alongside a new AIB logo, a circle divided in three with an "A" at the centre. From 1970, these were replaced by "Allied Irish Banks". In 1990, AIB introduced
6264-553: The bank was unable to attract sufficient interest from private investors. As part of the deal, Chairman Dan O'Connor agreed to quit the bank while managing director, Colm Doherty, announced he would leave before the end of the year after 13 months in the job. In December 2010, the European Commission approved the plans, and the Government passed emergency legislation to allow the deal to take place without requiring
6372-529: The bank. In April 2010, AIB announced that the Irish government would receive a stake of 16% or 17% in the bank. The Irish State had been due to receive dividends on those shares, but EU regulations state that banks that get State aid cannot make cash payments. This forced AIB to give the government shares instead. The bank is currently involved in a number of "sale and leaseback" deals with its properties. In 2005 it sold an extension to its Ballsbridge Bankcentre headquarters for €367 million. In February 2006
6480-728: The beginning of 2008 AIB entered the Latvian , Estonian and Lithuanian markets by acquiring the AmCredit mortgage finance business from the Baltic American Enterprise Fund . Now AIB operates as a branch of this financial group in Estonia and Lithuania (update needed), operations in Latvia have ceased (see below). In 2008 AIB operated through its local branches providing financial services under established AmCredit brand in all three countries. AmCredit operated as
6588-577: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
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#17328015627036696-509: The creation of the Irish Free State in the 20th century. From continuing to use sterling after its independence (1922), the new Irish Free State ( Irish : Saorstát Éireann ) introduced its own currency from 1928. The new Free State pound was defined by the 1927 Act to have exactly the same weight and fineness of gold as did the sovereign at the time, having the effect of making the new currency pegged at 1:1 with sterling. De facto rather than de jure parity with sterling
6804-410: The currency, discussion continued into the 1960s on the topic. When the British government decided to decimalise its currency, the Irish government followed suit. The Decimal Currency Act 1969 replaced the traditional shilling and penny with a centesimal subdivision, the "new penny" ( pingin nua ; symbol: p). The pound itself was not revalued by this act and therefore banknotes were unaffected, although
6912-664: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
7020-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
7128-419: The euro (including the currencies of Vatican City , Monaco and San Marino ), the Irish pound was the only one whose conversion factor was less than 1, i.e. the unit of the national currency was worth more than one euro – almost EUR 1.27 in this case. Although the euro became the currency of the eurozone countries including Ireland on 1 January 1999, it was not until 1 January 2002 that
7236-443: The firm's boom-time trading. On 30 September 2010, the Irish Government announced plans to use its National Pensions Reserve to inject €3.7 billion of capital into Allied Irish Banks, becoming the majority shareholder and effectively nationalizing the bank. AIB needed to raise additional capital due to increasing losses on bad loans incurred from the real estate bubble , and Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan stated that
7344-430: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
7452-477: The funds in the company on their behalf; at the time Gerry Scanlan was CEO of the bank. Faldor subsequently benefited from inappropriate deal allocations, and artificial deals that amounted to €48,000 out of AIB Investment Managers' own funds. Those cited include: In 2004 it was revealed that the bank had been overcharging on foreign exchange transactions for up to ten years. The overcharging affected 3 million purchase transactions of foreign drafts . Initially
7560-498: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
7668-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
7776-476: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
7884-469: The law for a period of almost 8 years and that certain staff and management were fully aware of this at the time. The Central Bank of Ireland had been aware that AIB was overcharging consumers in FX fees but did not act for a number of years. They gave a parliamentary inquiry the "false impression" that they were unaware of it. The whistleblower who gave the Central Bank the information was requested to come to
7992-582: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
8100-804: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
8208-399: The new Irish 10p was smaller than the new UK version introduced in 1992 and the new Irish 5p was slightly larger than the UK version introduced in 1990. The Irish 50p was never reduced in size (as it was in the UK in 1997). Despite not being legal tender, British sterling coins of the same shape and size were customarily accepted in Ireland. At time of the replacement with the euro, these were
8316-469: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
8424-655: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
8532-653: The one-for-one link that existed between the Irish pound and the pound sterling ; by 30 March 1979 an exchange rate was introduced. This period also saw the creation of the Currency Centre at Sandyford in 1978, where banknotes and coinage could be manufactured within the state. Before this, banknotes were printed by specialist commercial printers in England, and coins were struck by the British Royal Mint . Until 1986, all decimal Irish coins were
8640-503: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
8748-557: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
8856-428: The projected amount of overcharging was €14 million. However the bank set aside €50 million to cover the cost of refunds. The Central Bank of Ireland published a report into an investigation of AIB Group concerning overcharging its own customers for FX transactions and deal allocation and other associated issues. This revealed excess charges of €34.2 million, including interest. AIB failed to comply with
8964-557: The real negative changes taking place in property market fundamentals. The Central Bank told the Oireachtas Enterprise Committee that shareholders who lost their money in the banking collapse are to blame for their fate and got what was coming to them for not keeping bank chiefs in check, but did admit that the Central Bank had failed to give sufficient warning about reckless lending to property developers. In contrast, on 7 October 2008, Danske Bank wrote off
9072-471: The relationship between the Irish pound and sterling was fixed at £13 Irish to £12 sterling (The Pound Scots had yet another value; it was absorbed into sterling in 1707 at a ratio of 12 to 1.) This relationship made it possible for Irish copper coins to circulate with English silver coins, since thirteen Irish pence had the same value as one English shilling. In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland became part of
9180-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
9288-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
9396-647: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
9504-411: The same shape and size as their UK counterparts. After this, however, all new denominations or redesigned coins were of different sizes to the UK coinage. The new 20p coin introduced that year and the £1 coin (introduced in 1990) were completely different in size, shape and composition from the previously introduced UK versions. When the UK 5p and 10p coins were reduced in size, the Irish followed suit, but
9612-673: The start of the post-2008 Irish banking crisis in November 2008, which generated adverse comment. When asked if they had ever issued a sell notice on AIB, a Goodbody spokesman said "I don't know if we even keep records going back that far". On 12 February 2009 the Irish government arranged a €7 billion rescue plan for AIB and Bank of Ireland . The bank's capital value had fallen to €486 million, rather less than its 70% holding in Bank Zachodni in Poland. Goodbody Stockbrokers
9720-671: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
9828-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
9936-808: Was "extraordinary" when Scanlon told the Inquiry that he was unaware of the scale of the DIRT issue. The Revenue Commissioners on 28 March 2006 imposed a tax settlement plus penalties on four former senior executives for their interest, while employed by AIB, arising from investments they maintained in Faldor Limited. Faldor was an investment company set up in the British Virgin Islands that between 1989 and 1996 hold funds on behalf of these senior AIB executives as well as people connected to them. Allied Irish Banks Investment Managers then managed
10044-688: Was acquired by Swedbank. In February 2008, AIB entered into an agreement to acquire a 49.99% interest in Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB), a specialist provider of secured finance to small and medium-sized companies in Bulgaria . AIB later sold its stake in BACB to a Bulgarian private-equity fund for a nominal sum in May 2011. The Irish government received shares of €3.5 billion in AIB in 2009 as part of measures to recapitalise
10152-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
10260-682: Was delisted from the main market of the Irish Stock Exchange on 25 January 2011 and the NYSE on 26 August 2011. AIB filed a lawsuit against Oracle Financial Services, India in January 2011, claiming breach of contract on Flexcube implementation. The case was settled later that year. The ISDA Determinations Committee, consisting of 15 US and European banks, decided that a Restructuring Credit Event occurred with respect to Allied Irish Banks on 9 June 2011. In December 2020 AIB announced its intention to cut 1,500 jobs by 2023 noting that due to
10368-447: Was discovered in November 1984 that ICI was operating below the statutory reserve ratio, a request for further capital was made to AIB — ICI had returned a profit of more than £80 million the previous year. This collapse occurred at a time of deep economic recession in Ireland. The level of Government debt at that time was 116% of GDP. But the Irish taxpayer bailed ICI out of its difficulties. The Irish Government did so to ensure
10476-609: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
10584-593: Was established by King John around 1210, so that Irish silver could move freely into the English economy and help to finance his wars in France. However, from 1460, Irish coins were minted with a different silver content than those of England, so that the values of the two currencies diverged. During the Williamite War of 1689–1691, King James II , no longer reigning in England and Scotland, issued an emergency base-metal coinage known as gun money . In 1701,
10692-518: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Irish pound The pound ( Irish : punt )
10800-435: Was maintained for another fifty years. As with sterling, the £sd system was used, with the Irish names punt (plural: puint ), scilling (plural: scillingí ) and pingin (plural: pinginí ). Distinctive coins and notes were introduced, the coins from 1928 (in eight denominations: 1 ⁄ 4 d , 1 ⁄ 2 d , 1d , 3d , 6d , shilling (1/–), florin (2/–), half crown (2/6) and in 1966
10908-526: Was overseen by the Irish Decimal Currency Board, created on 12 June 1968. It provided changeover information to the public, including a pamphlet called Everyone's Guide to Decimal Currency . The changeover occurred on Decimal Day , 15 February 1971. The European Monetary System was introduced in the 1970s. Ireland decided to join it in 1978, while the United Kingdom stayed out. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism finally broke
11016-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
11124-414: Was sold as part of the restructuring plan for €24 million. The Financial Times commented that the lowly price tag placed on Ireland's oldest stockbroker and "one-time bastion of Ireland's Protestant business elite" was just another measure of the dramatic decline of the Irish economy. AIB were likely to have had to indemnify the new owners of Goodbody Stockbrokers against any legal action arising from
11232-448: Was some three times that of other European banks. Former Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte called for more competition in the Irish banking sector. In August 2006 the bank again announced record profits for the first half of 2006, making €1.2 billion before tax, equating to €1.2 million per hour. The international credit crunch presented the first challenge to AIB — namely a dramatic fall-off in liquidity. As AIB depends to
11340-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
11448-454: Was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP , and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction. ) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until the beginning of 2002. The earliest Irish coinage was introduced in the late 10th century, with an £sd system of one pound divided into twenty shillings , each of twelve silver pence . Parity with sterling
11556-433: Was the highest tax settlement in the history of Ireland. The bank's internal auditor, Tony Spollen, highlighted a potential Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) liability of IR£100 million for the period 1986–1991, but Gerry Scanlon, the group chief executive at that time rubbished this estimate, describing it as "infantile". The Oireachtas Sub-Committee Inquiry into DIRT hearing on 27 September 1999 concluded that it
11664-495: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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