National Irish Bank

1. In a nutshell:
Internet banking is fairly good. International transfers are possible without too much hassle.
Joint accounts for partners are no problem.
Until the banking crisis, it was easy to get a credit card. Now it is even nearly impossible to get a 300.- Euro overdraft.
Opening hours are ridiculous
Staff is unfriendly, stressed and in constant fear of loosing the job.
Bank lost a lot of its market capitalization. Before the crisis, they were giving away the most interesting mortgages on the Irish market. Now they have to struggle a lot and are NOT protected by NAMA but by the Danish state.
Better than BOI and AIB, but not nearly as good as a standard bank in Germany.
The account creation process creates LOADS of paperwork. You will need a new folder for all the dead wood.
2. The whole story:
To make it clear right from the start: banking in Ireland is a pain in the neck. Big time.
When I arrived in Ireland in 2007 (before the recession!), I started with AIB, because I read plenty of warnings NOT to go to Bank of Ireland. AIB seemed the best alternative and I soon discovered that even though their Online banking was OK, their service offerings were not really good.
Many colleagues recommended me NIB — National Irish Bank. The bank is a 100% daughter of the danish Danske Bank group and is therefore «safe» in the case that the Irish banking sector /​state collapses one day like the Greek one.
National Irish Bank offered me a 1000, — Euro Mastercard straight away (AIB, even after 6 months working for a big US multinational, first denied me a credit card, and 6 months later offered me a 500, — Euro one… that was BEFORE the banking crisis, mind you!).
So I started as a happy NIB customer, with a 1000, — Euro credit card, a joint account for me and my wife (a thing near to impossible with AIB) and a very friendly customer service contact inside the bank.
Then the crisis came and guess what? Of all the scandinavian banks, Danske Bank is the only one badly hit by the recession, because they were part of the subprime-​gamble and had huge questionable investments.
NIB, although being untouched by the Irish recession, is still heavily hurt and the branch we opened our account (O’Connell Street) was closed down. Our friendly CSR was sacked and our account shifted to the College Green branch.
In the 2 years I am with NIB now I had more than one dreadful experience. Recently, I wanted to apply for a car loan. I was denied with the argument of «recent irregularities» in my current account. In fact, in February, a Direct Debit didn’t go through and I was 10 Euros «in the red» for 2 weeks (I shift most of my money over to Germany and miscalculated). This was enough to mark me as a «bad customer».
Ironically, at that time, I applied for a 300 Euro (!) overdraft in order to be more flexible with direct debits. I was denied with the same reasoning, which is absurd because granting me such a small overdraft would guarantee that there are no more «irregularities» in the future.
It is funny if you work for Google since 3 years but banks keep telling you that they don’t trust you and if you enquire it is about 10 Euros.
The College Green branch itself is in a nice building, but as soon as I enter it I cannot help but feel lost and small — it reminds me of the bank description in Terry Pratchett’s «Making Money». I am sure the main reason for banks to build such awe-​inspiring reception halls is exactly that: they want you to feel small and insignificant. It is the same approach the Catholic church has since the middle ages, and thinking of it I am sure that this is no coincidence and that in fact the banks are (at least were until recently) the new, secular version of the Catholic church.
I recently also wanted to open a savings account with NIB, and guess what? You have to be in Ireland longer than 3 years in order to do so. Also, their interest rates are really low and I therefore settled for the one and only savings account in Ireland: Rabodirect!
Resumee:
If your top-​priority is NOT to bank with an Irish bank, than NIB might be the right choice for you. I am not sure how «Irish» Ulster bank is.
If you want good customer service and a bank that can still offer you a certain amount of flexibility and service, stay away. NIB might have been such bank, but those times are long gone by.