It’s often said that banks are the lifeblood of an economy. In simple terms, they're a place to deposit and save your money, creating a pile for them to lend out to borrowers, who put this money back into the economy in some way – buying products, investing in education, or a house. One person’s spending is another person’s income, as they say.

In the post war era of the 1930s, it was agreed that deregulation of financial markets would open up the world, Irish banks could borrow without any limit and lend to whoever wanted it, money would flow, everyone would win.

As it turned out, everyone else would lose out too. This free flowing behaviour resulted in a global financial crisis in 2008. (Because a banking system is so important to a country,) the Irish Government guaranteed the main Irish banks and tied us into a bailout programme with Europe, leaving Irish taxpayers to foot the €48 billion euro bill.

And the Irish people haven’t forgotten this. Which is why half the banks' work in this country is lending, the other half is defending themselves from the criticism from citizens paying for their mistakes.

There’s new kids on the block to worry about now too. We aren’t living in a world of AIB and Bank of Ireland in this country any more) - The challenger banks have arrived. Over 1 million of our residents manage their money online only, the most popular platform being Revolut. 

We are at a place where owning our own home is no longer affordable or even an ambition for a lot of young people, so the dependence on building a credit rating with a pillar bank isn’t what it used to be.

Starting and building a business is still a dream for many but we're also living through the globalisation of finance - venture capitalists based in Singapore are putting money into Cork based start-ups, yoga studios are being built via crowdfunding, US pension funds are constructing hotels in Dublin – dressing up for a meeting with the bank manager and asking parents for an IOU isn't the only option anymore.  

Free flow of money is still alive, there’s just more rules.        

Brian Hayes was a TD and on the side of his constituents when Government guaranteed the banks, now he’s crossed over as a spokesperson for the industry.

A great amount of politicians are problem solvers, they choose that path to get things done.

Politics is a relentless flow of problems and matters to attend to. One could say defending the banking system to the Irish people is as big a job.

However, in Brian's own words, it's an industry worth fighting for.

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