Irish banks are giving out mortgages at between 5 and 6 percent. Barclays in the UK are giving them out at about the same rates. The cost of recapitalisation from Abu Dhabi and Qatar is 12-14% (Source: London Independent). How the hell can they afford to pay for this and the really big question: considering the questions being asked about our sovereign debt, if the Irish banks (and BOI in particular) need to recapitalise what sort of interest rate are they going to have to borrow at (or will the government foot the bill?).