Very worrying stop press news re Anglo Irish

peneloperigby

I'm really worried about this _pale_ I used to live in the Republic of Ireland and I have a few thousand euros in a Bank of Ireland savings account. This money came from an inheritance and amounts to all we have, we were keeping it there accruing interest (its a good interest rate) and hoping to put it towards a deposit on a house. We've now just moved to the UK, should I go over there and take it all out I'm kind of feeling that I should because its so worrying that this may all go the way of Iceland and we'd be left with nothing :eek:

gozomark

if you are that worried about it, take it out. Nothing anyone here will say will stop you being worried, so why put yourself through the continued worry.

peneloperigby

Well, I was hoping some one could advise me on whether or not this is necessary because taking it out isn't just a trip to the bank, I have to actually go to Ireland to do so and take time off work etc. Do people think I should do this? My savings are possibly more at risk than others here who have post office (bank of Ireland owned) or anglo irish savings because my account is actually in the republic of Ireland and owned by Bank of Ireland.

gozomark

is it necessary ? by what measure ? Are you prepared to accept a 1 in a 100 chance of losing it ? 1 in a million ?

1. will Ireland go bust ? very unlikely, but it could happen
2. will the UK go bust ? - also very unlikely, but could happen

would I do it, no, but I'm not you - anybody who tells you there is 0% risk leaving it in Ireland is wrong - there is a very small risk. More of an issue is that if you are going to keep worrying about it, then put it somewhere where you won't worry about it

Gwhiz

gozomark wrote: »

is it necessary ? by what measure ? Are you prepared to accept a 1 in a 100 chance of losing it ? 1 in a million ?

1. will Ireland go bust ? very unlikely, but it could happen
2. will the UK go bust ? - also very unlikely, but could happen

would I do it, no, but I'm not you - anybody who tells you there is 0% risk leaving it in Ireland is wrong - there is a very small risk. More of an issue is that if you are going to keep worrying about it, then put it somewhere where you won't worry about it

Absolutely. If you are the worrying type, noting anyone says on here will change that. Do what feels comfortable to you!

melbury

I think this article sounds quite positive - what do you think?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0226/breaking30.htm

Mikeyorks

melbury wrote: »

I think this article sounds quite positive - what do you think?

That it sounds extraordinarily positive ..... if that makes you feel better?

The fact that he was standing in Dublin ..... and wouldn't have exited the country alive if he had been negative? Has nothing to do with it.

I am joking - as regards the last bit. For goodness sake .... stop researching Irish related articles and poring over this thread - it will not change anything. My OH is as 'paranoid' as you are about the current financial climate ..... and she's not fretting about the significant sum we have in Anglo Irish.

So take a leaf out of her book ...... and worry, instead, about the S&S ISA I put her £7.2k in when we hit the bottom a few months ago. So how did I know it had a false bottom .... and there was more underneath! Or the GEB I put a considerable sum in over 4 years ago .... and which was showing a 50% notional profit after not much over a year. But is now at a very rounded 0% .... and unlikely to improve.

C'est la vie ........ as the Irish now say, after joining the EU.

Stop worrying ...... you will get your funds in November!

joemardo1

I am at this moment watching prime time on RTE television (Irelands national TV service) prime time is something similar to newsnight on BBC2.

Not being an expert on financial affairs I can only relate to you what the experts (if they really are) on prime time are saying.

They say that is up to Ireland to sort out its own financial affairs, that no one knows what the world will be like in 12 mths time, that Ireland if it does face bankruptcy can't rely on the imf or Germany to bail it out, that the imf may not even have the money to do so or it may impose such stringent conditions that Ireland couldn't adhere to, and as regards Germany it owes Ireland nothing that it is in fact looking to the east and to places like Austria. As regards the Irish times article above they say that what the guy says in public and what he says behind closed doors may be two different things.

Just relating to you what the commentators are saying here. If you think the talk on this board is very pessimistic then you should really be listening to them. From their point of view things are really bad.

Joe

bendipa

peneloperigby wrote: »

Well, I was hoping some one could advise me on whether or not this is necessary because taking it out isn't just a trip to the bank, I have to actually go to Ireland to do so and take time off work etc. Do people think I should do this? My savings are possibly more at risk than others here who have post office (bank of Ireland owned) or anglo irish savings because my account is actually in the republic of Ireland and owned by Bank of Ireland.

You don't say where you are located, nor what are the withdrawal terms of your savings account. But BOI have an office in Berkeley Square London as well as other parts of the UK. Give them a ring and find out if you can transfer the cash over from Ireland and whether they will let you withdraw savings through one of their UK offices (see below). May just save you a bit of a trek.They appear to operate ATM machines as well, but you may need a current account with them to withdraw funds by that means. .

http://www.bank-of-ireland.co.uk/contact/branchlocator.html

gozomark

joemardo1 wrote: »

I am at this moment watching prime time on RTE television (Irelands national TV service) prime time is something similar to newsnight on BBC2.

They say that is up to Ireland to sort out its own financial affairs, that no one knows what the world will be like in 12 mths time, that Ireland if it does face bankruptcy can't rely on the imf or Germany to bail it out, that the imf may not even have the money to do so or it may impose such stringent conditions that Ireland couldn't adhere to, and as regards Germany it owes Ireland nothing that it is in fact looking to the east and to places like Austria. As regards the Irish times article above they say that what the guy says in public and what he says behind closed doors may be two different things.

this is all true, and Ireland, like many other countries (incl the UK) have some very tough decisions including raising taxes and cutting expenditure. If either Ireland or the UK continue with their current budget deficits, they will go bust. Programmes like this are good as it helps educate the general public as to how serious things are, and so realise the sacrifices that need to be made. Doing nothing is not an option