No Country is Free/Safe from a Bank Bail-out, not one country. And yes, yours is next.

Irish taxpayers face pouring billions more euros into their troubled banking sector on what is being dubbed "bailout Tuesday".

The government is expected to take bigger stakes in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland as the property lending spree that took place before the 2007 credit crunch continues to knock holes in their battered balance sheets.

But while the Irish taxpayer faces taking on a greater burden from the banking sector – perhaps as much as €16bn (£14bn) – the US began to prepare to sell off its 7.7bn shares in Citigroup, into which the authorities pumped $24bn of cash during the 2008 banking crisis. Those 7.7bn shares were worth $32bn last night - implying a
profit for the US treasury if the share price can withstand the sale of
such a huge amount of shares.

In Ireland, though, the crisis is yet to abate as the economy weakens and the government follows through on an austerity budget that has imposed cuts in public sector pay after €11bn was injected into the banks.

Shares in Allied Irish Banks closed down 19% in Dublin at €1.37, ahead of announcements when the National Asset Management Agency, a toxic loan
body, is due to provide details on the price for taking on the bad
loans. Financial regulators will also set out the size of the capital
cushions the banks will have to hold in preparation for future losses.

The Irish government took control of Anglo Irish Bank last year and holds stakes of 16% in Bank of Ireland, which runs the Post Office bank in the UK, and 25% of Allied Irish.

Local speculation is focused on the government stake rising to more than 70% in Allied Irish and more than 40% in Bank of Ireland while building
societies EBS and Irish Nationwide may also need taxpayer involvement
as the authorities continue to tackle the losses caused by bad lending.