Professor John McHale:

Wisely or unwisely, in June 2012 I wrote that this was highly unlikely to happen. It involved other governments putting in money to pay above market values for Irish banks. I did not see that happening politically in a European context. However, the fact that there was a commitment in this regard did provide a degree of leverage which was worth pursuing. I believed the possibilities were low to begin with and have seen nothing since that would make me change my mind. If anything, given recent statements, it seems even less likely to occur. I must stress that that is a personal rather than a council position.