The stories of failed banks isn’t new for any of us these days. So why did those in government not make insolvency part of the process, so that the bonus money wasn’t there to be handed out? It’s so painfully obvious at this point that the only option to protect everyone else is to force the banks into bankruptcy and re-write everything from scratch. (Think about what was done to GM.) Once again, the bankers win and everyone else pays the price.

Stricken Allied Irish Banks is preparing to hand out €40m (£34m) of bonuses next week – despite being on the brink of receiving another emergency bailout from the Irish government.

As many as 2,400 bankers in its Dublin capital markets division are to receive the payments on 17 December under agreements struck with the bank in 2008.

The bank, 19% owned by Ireland’s taxpayers but expected to reach 95% state-ownership, had originally been blocked from making the payments under one of the government’s bailout programmes.