Ulster (must have its) Bank
BY ROBBIE MacGABHANN
There has been an exceptional amount of media coverage on the two Sinn
Féin ministers taking up their posts last week. As Minister for
Education Martin McGuinness took up office promising to be ``meticulous
and even handed'' with everybody, there was still considerable
speculation on Sinn Féin's bona fides to be in Government.
Not much focus though has been put on how the Ulster Unionist
ministers will perform. How meticulous and even handed will they be?
A possible guide to the shape of things to come can be found in the
attitude of the Ulster Unionists to the possible sell off of Ulster
Bank, currently Ireland's third-largest financial institution.
Ulster Bank is owned by British bank Nat West, which is trying to fend
off hostile takeovers led by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Financial
analysts believe that no matter what the outcome of the takeover
battle, Ulster Bank will be sold off to recoup costs for the eventual
victors.
Enter Bank of Ireland, as well as Irish Life & Permanent, who want to
buy the Ulster Bank branch network. Not a single account comes the cry
from the Ulster Unionists, who are unanimously opposed to any sell off
of Ulster Bank to an Irish company.
They fear that the head office of the new bank will be centralised in
Dublin and that, quite realistically, there will be job losses. UUP MP
and Assembly member John Taylor has led the UUP opposition to any
sale.
The UUP want the sale referred to the Department of Trade, Enterprise
and Employment, whose new minister is no other than fellow UUP
Assembly member Reg Empey. How meticulous and evenhanded will Reg be
is the real question?
The possible sale of Ulster Bank highlights the need of the whole UUP
to take a reality check. They would prefer Ulster Bank to be owned by
a larger British or European bank. Do they honestly think that a
British or European transnational financial concern would be any less
likely to asset strip the company than an Irish one? Are Fenian
Multinationals really more venomous, profiteering and exploitative
than British ones?
In fact, the only really feasible way to save the jobs at Ulster Bank
is to take a leaf out of Sinn Féin policy and seek the nationalisation
of Ulster Bank. That way jobs could be protected.
It seems that little has changed since the days when the Northern Bank
was sold off to National Australia Bank. It became National Irish Bank
in the 26 Counties but remained Northern Bank in the Six Counties and
the union was safe for another day.
Prepare yourself for the next UUP financial fairytale. It's the one
about the importance of maintaining a link with Sterling... you have
been warned.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)