SINN FÉIN HAS claimed that it has been anonymously sent a copy of more recordings involving senior officials at Anglo Irish Bank, many of which are not currently in the public domain.

The party says that the tapes cover the period between February and September 2008.

The tapes will not be released at this time and the party says that they have been made available to the gardaí and to the Governor of the Central Bank.

Copies of the tapes have also been retained with a solicitor for the party with a view to releasing them at a future date.

“On the advice of senior counsel we have taken the decision not to release the tapes at this time,” the party’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said in the Dáil this morning.

He said that he hand-delivered the tapes to Garda headquarters and to the Central Bank governor this morning.

Doherty also said hat the government must “move speedily” to establish a banking inquiry as there is a “public demand for the truth”.

“People want to know what was going within the banks and the contact between senior bankers and the Fianna Fáil government in the run up to the guarantee,” he said.

He also claimed that the previous Fianna Fáil government “had more information in relation to the bank prior to the guarantee than they have previously disclosed”.

‘Don’t be such an idiot’: Heated exchanges over Central Bank response to Anglo Tapes