95-630: Bank of Ireland Group plc ( Irish : Banc na hÉireann ) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At the core of the modern-day group is the old Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland , the ancient institution established by royal charter in 1783. Bank of Ireland has been designated as
190-547: 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
285-475: 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 . Bank of Ireland is the oldest bank in continuous operation (apart from closures due to bank strikes in 1950, 1966, 1970, and 1976) in Ireland. The Bank of Ireland Act 1781 (21 & 22 Geo. 3. c. 16 (I)) was passed by
380-478: A bank founded by Daniel O'Connell in 1835, had branches in Ireland and Britain. The Irish branches were acquired by Bank of Ireland (changing its name to the National Bank of Ireland Ltd), and rebranded temporarily as National Bank of Ireland, before being fully incorporated into Bank of Ireland. The British branches were acquired by Williams & Glyn's Bank . In 1969, Bank of Ireland, Hibernian Bank and
475-717: 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
570-523: 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
665-548: A building designed by Sir John Soane to be constructed on the site bounded by Westmoreland Street, Fleet Street, College Street and D'Olier Street (now occupied by the Westin Hotel). However, the project was cancelled following the Act of Union in 1800, when the newly defunct Parliament House was bought by the Bank of Ireland in 1803. The former Parliament House continues today as a working branch. Today, visitors can still view
760-658: A car in Monk Place and in Great Western Square, Phibsboro, and two more were seized in a house on Great Western Villas, Phibsboro. Cash was also found in a car in Phibsboro. The six men and one woman are believed to be members of a well-known gang from Dublin's north inner city and have connections to a major Dublin gangland figure. On 2 March, those arrested appeared before the High Court to challenge
855-690: A central bank status. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 31 December 1971, Bank of Ireland was the banker of the Irish Government . The headquarters of the bank until the 1970s was the impressive Parliament House on College Green , Dublin. This building was originally designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce in 1729 to host the Irish Parliament , and it was the world's first purpose-built bicameral parliament building. The bank had planned to commission
950-478: 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,
1045-553: 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
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#17327975485171140-604: A deposit-taker and a credit institution – it performed many central bank functions, much like the earlier-established Bank of Scotland and Bank of England . Bank of Ireland operated the Exchequer Account and during the nineteenth century acted as something of a banker of last resort. Even the titles of the chairman of the board of directors (the Governor) and the title of the board itself (the Court of Directors) suggest
1235-460: 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
1330-488: A large sum of money could be taken as a result of one man being targeted. He has remarked, "Criminals are going for the line of least resistance, the human connection as it were. Given the fact there is so much detailed technology available to financial institutions, the line of least resistance is the human being." The bank's chief executive, Richie Boucher , appointed just two days earlier, immediately wrote to all his staff to remind them that protocol should be followed in
1425-468: A marketing alliance with EVO Payments International and re-entered the card acquiring market. BOI Payment Acceptance was launched in December 2014. In September 2022, the Irish state sold its remaining shareholding in the bank to return it to fully private ownership for the first time in a decade. Bank of Ireland is not, and was never, the Irish central bank. However, as well as being a commercial bank –
1520-597: A number of parties, IBM was selected for exclusive contract negotiations in July 2011. During the intervening period, an extensive due diligence phase has been undertaken and relevant regulatory approval has been granted. IBM will manage the group's entire IT infrastructure, including desktop systems, servers, mainframes, local area networks and service desk. Since then, BOI has given HCL a €30m Business Process Outsourcing contract and has selected them as strategic local resourcing partner in Ireland. In addition to that, HCL have opened
1615-585: 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
1710-575: 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
1805-596: A performance bonus". Their report also found that there had been "a catalogue of errors" and that the information supplied by Bank of Ireland to the Department of Finance was "presented in a manner which minimised the level of additional payments made". The Bank paid €2 million by way of compensation to the Exchequer for providing "misleading" information. The Bank has forged strong links with IT outsourcing companies since 2004 or earlier. On 1 November 2010, IBM won
1900-625: A rate of almost one per week." €1.8 million of the stolen cash was recovered and seven people were arrested by gardaí in a number of incidents on 28 February. A house in Phibsboro was sealed off and ten more houses were searched. A total of five cars and one van were seized by gardaí. One of the men was arrested following a chase along the M50 near the Navan road, with two bales of packed cash being discovered in his car. Four other men were arrested in
1995-625: 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
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#17327975485172090-492: 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
2185-521: A software factory for Bank of Ireland in India and has started to outsource production support for the retail banking and payments applications in BOI. This exclusive relationship with HCL has been seen as controversial in the context of the substantial Irish taxpayer investment in Bank of Ireland – and the lack of any significant investment by HCL in Ireland. A banking analyst said in July 2011 that BOI's IT system
2280-545: 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
2375-466: A €7 billion rescue package for the bank and Allied Irish Banks plc in February. The biggest bank robbery in the history of the state took place at Bank of Ireland at College Green. Consultants Oliver Wyman validated Bank of Ireland's bad debt levels at €6 billion over three years to March 2011, a bad debt level which was exceeded by almost €1 billion within a matter of months. In 2010,
2470-635: Is "very antiquated." Bank of Ireland closed the accounts of the Irish Palestine Solidarity campaign citing that the bank considered Palestine a high-risk country. Sinn Féin TD Mary-Lou McDonald called this outrageous and an insult to the Palestinian people. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
2565-603: 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
2660-717: Is a depiction of a seated Hibernia figure, surrounded by the Latin motto of the Bank, Bona Fides Reipublicae Stabilitas ("Good Faith is the Cornerstone of the State"). The current series of £5, £10 and £20 notes, issued in April 2008, all feature an illustration of the Old Bushmills Distillery on the reverse side. Prior to 2008, all Bank of Ireland notes featured an image of the Queen's University of Belfast on
2755-401: 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
2850-511: 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
2945-587: 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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3040-412: 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
3135-666: 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
3230-771: The European Commission ordered the disposal of Bank of Ireland Asset Management, New Ireland Assurance , ICS Building Society, its US Foreign Exchange business and the stakes held in the Irish Credit Bureau and in an American Asset Manager followed the receipt of Irish Government State aid. In 2011, the Securities Services Division of the bank was sold to Northern Trust Corporation . In 2013, Bank of Ireland more than doubled interest rates on mortgages tracking Bank of England rates, (which had remained stable for four years), citing
3325-678: The Garda Síochána , however the Banks senior management did not know about the problem until February 2008 after an internal audit uncovered the theft and the Bank did not advise the Data Protection Commissioner and the Central Bank of Ireland until mid-April 2008. It also came to light that none of the laptops used encryption to protect the sensitive data. The Bank has since released a press release detailing
3420-723: The Oireachtas Public Accounts Sub-Committee, Ballaghaderreen (1998) and Ballygar (1999). The Public Accounts Sub-Committee Inquiry concluded that "the most senior executives in the Bank of Ireland did seek to set an ethical tone for the bank and unsuccessfully sought Revenue Commissioners assistance to promote an industry-wide Code of Practice". In April 2008 it was announced that four laptops with data pertaining to 10,000 customers were stolen between June and October 2007. This customer information included names, addresses, bank details, medical and pension details. The thefts were initially reported to
3515-658: The Parliament of Ireland , establishing the Bank of Ireland. On 25 June 1783, Bank of Ireland opened for business at St Mary's Abbey in a private house previously owned by one Charles Blakeney. On 6 June 1808, Bank of Ireland moved to the former Parliament House at 2 College Green. By 1827, it had seven branches outside of Dublin, in Belfast, Clonmel, Cork, Derry, Newry, Waterford and Westport. In 1864, Bank of Ireland paid its first interest on deposits. By 1883, Bank of Ireland had 58 branches throughout Ireland, and by 1920,
3610-631: 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 ")
3705-400: The $ 450M full scope outsource contract to manage BoI Group's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure services (e.g. mainframe, servers, desktops and print services) in a competitive bid against HP (the incumbent outsource provider) and HCL . This follows on from the Bank's natural expiration of its current agreement with HP, which was signed in 2004. Following a competitive bid process with
3800-634: 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
3895-552: The 1990s. In 1990, Bank of Ireland offered Visa cards for the first time. In 1995, Bank of Ireland merged First New Hampshire Bank with Royal Bank of Scotland 's Citizens Financial Group . In 1996, it introduced telephone banking. In 1996, Bank of Ireland bought the Bristol and West building society for UK£600 million (€882 million), which kept its own brand. In 1997, Bank of Ireland acquired New Ireland Assurance plc. In 1997, Bank of Ireland introduced Internet banking. In 1999,
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3990-789: 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
4085-403: 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
4180-515: 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
4275-754: The British Post Office throughout the UK and AA Savings. Operations in the rest of the world are primarily undertaken by Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking which provides services in France, Germany, Spain and the United States. Although the Bank of Ireland is not a central bank, it does have sterling note-issuing rights in the United Kingdom. While the Bank has its headquarters in Dublin, it also has operations in Northern Ireland , where it retains
4370-517: The Department of Finance in 2009 in advance of a recapitalisation of the bank which cost the taxpayer €3.5 billion "was incomplete and misleading". It also gave wrong information to the Minister for Finance who in turn misled the Dáil on €66 million in bonuses it paid since receiving a State guarantee. External examiners found it used "a restrictive and uncommon interpretation of what constituted
4465-471: 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
4560-549: 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
4655-448: The National Bank of Ireland were merged to form the Bank of Ireland Group. In 1980, Bank of Ireland opened its first ATM (branded as Pass Machines). In 1983, Bank of Ireland celebrated its Bi-Centenary and a commemorative stamp was issued. The Bank also commissioned the publication of "An Irish Florilegium" that year. Only branches in cities and major towns had ATMs in the 1980s but branches in most medium and small towns installed then in
4750-887: The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee Inquiry that its liability was in the region of £1.5 million. The settlement figure was 'dictated' by the Revenue Commissioners following an audit by the Commissioners. It was in Bank of Ireland that some of the most celebrated of the "celebrated cases" of non-compliance and bogus non-resident accounts have to date been discovered and disclosed. Thurles , Boyle , Roscrea (1990), Milltown Malbay (1991), Dundalk (1989–90), Killester (1992), Tullamore (1993), Mullingar (1996), Castlecomer , Clonmel , Ballybricken, Ballinasloe , Skibbereen (1988), Dungarvan and, disclosed to
4845-620: 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 ,
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#17327975485174940-519: The Republic of Ireland. By 2022, the number of branches had gradually been cut to 169. In Northern Ireland, Bank of Ireland prints its own banknotes in Pounds Sterling (see section on banknotes below). In 2021, the number of branches in Northern Ireland was cut from 28 to 13. In Great Britain, the bank expanded largely through the takeover of the Bristol and West Building Society in 1996. Bank of Ireland also provides financial services for
5035-401: The bank for its failure to follow what he termed "established protocols" during the robbery, as the Irish police force, the Garda Síochána , was not informed of the incident until the money had been removed from the bank. A manhunt was under way for the perpetrators, with seven people being arrested and €1.8 million of the stolen cash located, scattered across Dublin, on 28 February. Late on
5130-495: The bank held merger talks with Alliance & Leicester , but they were called off. In 2000, it was announced that Bank of Ireland was acquiring Chase de Vere . This share was later sold in 2004. In 2001, the bank acquired Moneyextra. In 2002, it acquired a 61% share in Iridian, a US investment manager, which doubled the size of its asset management business. It increased its share to 76% in 2004. In 2005, Bank of Ireland completed
5225-693: 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
5320-410: The bushes. The family was held overnight by the armed gang, during which time their mobile phones were confiscated and Travers' girlfriend was hit across the back of her head with a vase by one of the men. As dawn was arriving, the gang ordered all but Travers to enter their dark Volkswagen Golf family car. They were then bound together and driven to Ashbourne, County Meath . The bank employee
5415-424: The cash and his sports car to a waiting gang member. Travers then entered a garda station, the first point at which gardaí were notified that the robbery had taken place. One hour after this, the other family members succeeded in freeing themselves and walked to a nearby garda station. Travers' girlfriend required immediate medical treatment for a head wound she had received during a struggle with her captors, and
5510-664: 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
5605-414: 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
5700-462: The event of future robberies, saying "Our priority is always for the safety and well-being of all staff. I am sure this incident will raise concerns. Our best defence is to follow tried and tested procedures. I would ask everybody to remind themselves of these procedures, which are there to protect you, your families and the bank." The attack caused Charlie Flanagan , a Teachta Dála , to remark that "tiger kidnappings are taking place in Ireland ... at
5795-417: The family were reported to be "traumatised" by their ordeal. Travers's car was later found burned out in an apartment block near Tolka House Pub in Glasnevin . Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern said "proper procedures" were not followed during the course of the robbery, saying that gardaí should have been contacted before the money had left the bank. He also questioned how such
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#17327975485175890-430: 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
5985-450: The girlfriend of an employee, her mother and her mother's five-year-old granddaughter were held hostage at gunpoint. Gardaí arrested six men the next day, and recovered €1.8 million. A spokesperson for the bank said: "Bank of Ireland's priority is for the safety and well-being of the staff member and the family involved in this incident and all of the bank's support services have been made available to them." The information provided to
6080-549: The impressive Irish House of Lords chamber within the old headquarters building. The Oireachtas , the modern parliament of Ireland , is now housed in Leinster House in Dublin. In 2011, the Irish Government set out proposals to acquire the building as a venue for the state to use as a cultural venue. In the 1970s the bank moved its headquarters to a modern building, now known as Miesian Plaza , on Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2. As Frank McDonald notes in his book Destruction of Dublin , when these headquarters were built, it caused
6175-498: 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
6270-410: 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
6365-425: 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 ,
6460-447: The legal right (dating from before the partition of Ireland ) to print its own banknotes. These are pound sterling notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes , and should not be confused with banknotes of the former Irish pound . The obverse side of Bank of Ireland banknotes features the Bank of Ireland logo, below which is a line of heraldic shields each representing one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Below this
6555-399: 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
6650-497: 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
6745-406: The need to hold more reserves and the 'increased cost of funding mortgages'. Described by Ray Boulger of broker John Charcol as 'having shot the reputation of its mortgages to smithereens', nevertheless, the bank continues to offer highly competitive mortgages through the Post Office. In 2014, regulation of the bank was transferred to the European Central Bank . Also in 2014, the bank entered into
6840-469: 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
6935-408: The night of 26 February, Travers, whose father is a member of the Garda Síochána based at Clontarf, Dublin , was alone watching television at the home of his girlfriend near Kilteel , County Kildare . The woman and her mother were out shopping together. When they arrived home with the five-year-old nephew of Travers, six heavily built masked men, dressed in black and carrying handguns, jumped from
7030-670: The number had grown to 75. In 1922, Bank of Ireland was appointed as banker to the Government of Ireland. In 1926, Bank of Ireland took control of the National Land Bank. In 1948, The Bank of Ireland 1783–1946 by F.G. Hall was published jointly by Hodges Figgis (Dublin) and Blackwell's (Oxford). In 1958, the bank took over the Hibernian Bank Limited. In 1965, the National Bank Ltd,
7125-655: 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
7220-503: 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
7315-557: 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
7410-492: 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 )
7505-432: 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
7600-587: The reverse side. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size: The Bank of Ireland has never issued its own banknotes in the Republic of Ireland . Section 60 of the Currency Act 1927 removed the right of Irish banks to issue banknotes, however " consolidated banknotes ", of a common design issued by all "Shareholder Banks" under the Act, were issued between 1929 and 1953. These notes were not legal tender . Michael Soden abruptly quit as group chief executive on 29 May 2004 when it
7695-712: 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
7790-490: The sale of the Bristol and West branch and Direct Savings (Contact Centre) to Britannia Building Society . In 2008, Moody's Investors Service changed its rating of Bank of Ireland from stable to negative. Moody's pinpointed concerns over weakening asset quality and the impact of a more challenging economic environment on profitability at Bank of Ireland. A share price collapse followed. In 2009, The Irish government announced
7885-470: The seven branches affected and its initial response, later in the month the Bank confirmed that 31,500 customer records were affected as well as an increased number of branches. On 27 February 2009, it was reported that a criminal gang from Dublin had stolen €7 million from the Bank of Ireland's main branch in College Green . The robbery was the biggest in the history of Ireland , during which
7980-726: 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
8075-594: 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
8170-749: The world price of copper to rise – such was the usage in the building. In 2010 the bank moved to its current, smaller headquarters on Mespil Road. Bank of Ireland is headquartered in Dublin , and has operations in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and elsewhere. The group provides a broad range of financial services in Ireland to the personal, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. These include checking and deposit services, overdrafts, term loans, mortgages, international asset financing, leasing, instalment credit, debt financing, foreign exchange facilities, interest and exchange rate hedging instruments, executor and trustee services. At its height in 1969, Bank of Ireland had 500 branches in
8265-569: Was a large robbery of cash from the College Green cash centre of the Bank of Ireland in Dublin , Ireland, on 27 February 2009. It was the largest bank robbery in the Republic of Ireland's history. Criminals engaged in the tiger kidnapping of a junior bank employee, 24-year-old Shane Travers, and forced him to remove €7.6 million (US$ 9 million) in cash from the bank as his girlfriend and two others were held hostage. Ireland's Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform , Dermot Ahern , criticised
8360-531: 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
8455-418: Was discovered that adult material that contravened company policy was found on his Bank PC. Soden issued a personal statement explaining that the high standards of integrity and behaviour in an environment of accountability, transparency and openness, which he espoused, would cause embarrassment to the Bank. A IR£ 30.5 million tax arrears liability was settled by Bank of Ireland in July 2000. The Bank told
8550-609: 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
8645-531: 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. Bank of Ireland robbery The 2009 Bank of Ireland robbery
8740-504: Was given a mobile phone, ordered to collect €20, €50, €100 and €200 bank notes from his workplace, and supplied with a photograph of the rest of the family at gunpoint to convince his colleagues that their lives were under threat. Travers drove to Dublin in his red Toyota Celica car, acquired the cash through the assistance of colleagues who viewed the photo, and carried the money out of the building in four laundry bags. He took it to Clontarf Road railway station , whereupon he surrendered
8835-474: 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
8930-693: 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
9025-442: 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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