Ireland to failed bank: pay bonuses and you won't get bailed out

Finally, someone is standing up to the overvalued banking goons. Let the bankers fight this in court and see what happens. The alternative if they win is that they will wipe out the bonus money in taxes. It took a desperate situation to help a government find some spine but there's no reason to think other banks in other countries won't be seeking help again in the future.

If the money isn't there to stay afloat, it sure isn't there to pay out bonus money. How ignorant does one have to be to miss this point?

Ireland's finance minister has forced one of the country's debt-ridden banks not to pay a controversial €40m (£34m) bonus to its top staff.

Allied Irish Bank (AIB) announced this evening that it would no longer pay out the money, news of which had caused widespread outrage across the Republic at the weekend. Opposition politicians had threatened to introduce emergency legislation to the Dáil to take more than 90% of the bonus had the bank gone ahead.

In a letter to AIB, minister Brian Lenihan warned the bank that state support to shore it up was conditional on the non-payment of the bonus fund. Lenihan told AIB that "no matter when they have been earned" there would be no bonus payments to around 2,500 staff.