Lenders report that 95,000 accounts (or 13 per cent of all PDH mortgage loans) representing € of lending, currently have a shortfall in repaying the balance at the end of their term, two thirds of which have a shortfall of greater than 10%, the majority of which have not been restructured.15 The vast majority of this distress pre-dates the pandemic.
And the one-for-one sterling exchange rate link remained firmly in primary legislation until 1971. It was not until the early 1970s – the Whitaker years – that it could be said without fear of contradiction that the Central Bank was no longer operating as a mere Currency Board. Even in the 1970s, public communication was simpler than it is today.