bank of ireland

henryj

I have a 1 year bond with the B O I, although the goverment in the R O I guarantee it up to E 100.000 how safe is it if the ROI economy goes belly up ?

BigAl94

It potentially isn't http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2679277

leftieM

Worst case scenario is Ireland leaving the euro which would mean its currency would be hugely devalued. So you'd lose some of the paper value of your deposit.
However there's no precedent. The EU stepped in to sort out Greece and keep it in the euro. Ireland is good for another few months apparently and doesn't have to borrow money at current rates. What happens to Ireland is likely to play out in the spring.
Anyone who has Irish relatives will see that they are still a rich country where wages are high and there's still a lot of fat that can be trimmed. However, any government that tries to trim the fat (specifically middle class benefits like child benefit, mortgage interest relief, free university tuition, low taxes) will fall. I think the Irish government will get the EU and IMF to do a 'Greece' on it i.e. make the necessary cuts in benefits and wages and increase taxes so that the incumbent government can stay in power.
The bottom line for you is that your hands are tied. I presume you have a fixed term and can't touch the money. So you are wasting your time worrying about the 'what if's'. Just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

gerf

henryj you probably already know this by now but boi sterling deposits are now in 'boi uk' which now has the same 50k guarantee as any other uk bank. remember though the post office is also boi so probably is under the same deposit allowance. your money's safe! oh joy unbounded!