Fears over whether the European Commission (EC) would delay sanctioning an extension to the state's bank guarantee led to an outflow of funds from the Irish banks and persuaded the government to bring forward its announcement of the recapitalisation of AIB, according to senior political sources.
The drama hit the Irish banks over two weeks ago in the middle of negotiations between the government and the EC, when Brussels appeared to be slow in agreeing to the extension of the guarantee. Some large corporations, it is believed, moved funds out of Irish banks.