Sir, - The suggestion of a merger between AIB and Bank of Irelandhas given rise to some interesting commentary around the negativeimpact on consumers and suppression of competition.
I fail to see how it is possible to arrest consolidation (withoutintroducing artificial barriers) if industry trends so determine. Therate and pace of consolidation in UK financial services is a goodexample on our doorstep.
The consumer is protected by increased choice as barriers to entryhave been lowered or eliminated. If existing suppliers extractunreasonable profits at the expense of consumers, this accelerates theentry of new competitors.
The impact of players such as Bank of Scotland in the mortgagemarket or Ryanair in the airline business seems to be set aside in theemotion surrounding this debate. - Yours, etc.,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.