Living abroad and borrowing from Irish bank

HI all,
Quick question - would an Irish bank lend money to an Irish citizen living abroad?
Background -- I moved abroad last month with my bfriend. We want to buy a new car (left hand drive here..) and the bank in this country have offered to finance it for us. The interest rate is high though and i know that my own bank in Ireland can offer better ( at least their online calculator does..), but I am not sure if they would lend to me, as I am now outside of the country. The repayments with Tesco.ie loans also looked very good, but the online application has a tick box which says says 'I am resident in republic of ireland' so I can't apply with them --- or can I??
Has anyone here done anything similar?
Thanks

No is usually the answer. But you should ask your Bank Manager.

A couple of years ago I managed to get a loan of 20k plus from BOI to buy a flat even though they knew I was living abroad.

They did tell though that I only get it because my account manager pushed for it and that they don't normally lend abroad.