The internet reacts to Bank of Ireland’s ATM blunder

Fiona Frawley

One to sit proudly in the Irish history books, alongside the time we legalised yokes for 24 hours.

If you were out and about yesterday evening, you probably saw winding queues outside your local Bank of Ireland ATM, with fraught Gardaí attempting to intercept withdrawals.

The rush to the country’s cash points was the result of a technical issue at Bank of Ireland, which allowed some of their customers to withdraw funds above their usual limits. Customers were reportedly able to withdraw funds of up to €1,000 despite having insufficient funds, although Bank of Ireland have insisted the daily withdrawal limit is €500.

BOI have stressed that any money withdrawn from an account with no funds in it will be treated as an unauthorised overdraft, but that hasn’t stopped the memes, tweets and hot takes flowing as freely as the unsolicited cash. Here’s a round up of some of our favourite reactions to the banking blunder:

Tiny Garda

Complete with Polly Pocket-sized new Garda uniform.

Does anyone else have a tiny Garda standing in front of the Bank of Ireland app on their phone pic.twitter.com/Su8cgoy28G

— James Kelleher (@etienneshrdlu) August 15, 2023

Bank of Bertie

Aul Bert definitely came out of hiding at the right time.

When your bank But you don't
is giving away have a bank
free cash account
for free pic.twitter.com/2Va9IBNLQ1

— Estebantz (@ActingTheGom) August 15, 2023

AIB supremacy

One time, a BAIB punched me in the face. It was awesome.

You'd never see us AIB heads, or BAIBs as we call ourselves, get carried away at the ATM like that. We're a more serene, a more gentle, a more dignified sort of bank customer. Why? Because we are brave, and they back brave.

Simple as.

— Aidan Fitzmaurice (@FancyVegasPro) August 16, 2023