The Irish government may have exited a little early, leaving an estimated €81m on the table at today’s price, when they fully exited its ownership of AIB shares in June 2025. Bank of Ireland managed to beat AIB with share price increasing 87% across the year. Irish banks now compare favourably to the rest of the EU in terms of strong capital and liquidity positions and improved asset quality but historically faced challenges with lower profitability and higher operating costs. S&P anticipates AIB and Bank of Ireland will further advance their digital capabilities and proposition to further ramp up efforts to contain costs. Nevertheless, after a historic 2025, Irish banks enter 2026 no longer as the under-performer in Europe but well placed for investors.

Source: Irish Examiner December 21, 2025 14:50 UTC