At first sight, Bank of Ireland looks well placed to ride out the credit-crunch-induced downturn. Thanks to the cost-cutting programme initiated by chief exec Brian Goggin back in 2005, it’s been busy axing staff and cutting costs for the past four years.

Emer Lang, a banking analyst with stockbrokers Davy, says BoI management are indeed “a conservative bunch”. This has, literally, paid dividends: the bank had a return on equity last year of 22.5%.

However, as the credit crunch continues, clouds are gathering. Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have highlighted BoI as one of a handful of European banks with low tier one capital ratios. This is particularly significant given that it’s also a big player in the shaky British and Irish property markets – 71% of loans at Bank of Ireland are in property.

Little surprise, therefore, that Brendan Murphy, managing director of Osborne Recruitment, says Bank of Ireland has an effective hiring freeze. The only warm spot is wealth management, which is being developed in preference to the retail, corporate or treasury operations.

However, Murphy says Ireland’s banks are still seen as a better bet in difficult times: “It’s seen as a bigger risk to work for international banks in case they won’t be here in two or 10 years’ time.”