AIB may account for one quarter of the Irish Stock Exchange Index following its recent bid rumour-fuelled surge but that will do little to protect it if one of the European giants decides the time is right to grab a slice of the very profitable Irish banking market. However, that is unlikely to be the case - for the time being at least.

News of an imminent takeover bid was just that to senior staff at AIB, according to reports. The joke in Bankcentre was what language they would have to learn - German for Deutsche, Dutch for ABN Amro or good old English for Lloyds. Now it appears, the furore was simply the result of the overactive imaginations of London City dealers desperate for news to underpin the continuing rise of the London Stock Exchange indices to even more unrealistic heights.