FORGET THE billions that have vanished from its loan book, the hunt is on for Anglo Irish Bank’s 124,000 golf balls, with a resident of Rathfarnham leading the charge.

Cormac Breslin was enjoying a round of golf during a family holiday recently at the upmarket Marriott-operated Praia D’El Rey golf resort in Portugal when he came across two Anglo golf balls at the 10th hole.

Breslin packaged them up and sent one to Anglo chief Mike Aynsley and the other to my colleague Simon Carswell, who broke the story on the golf balls in May. You might recall that Anglo spent €1.38 million on promotional bits and bobs in recent years, mostly on golf items.

Breslin even included a postcard of the course. It looks like a fine spot for some corporate entertainment.

“It would seem that the Anglo clients are as wasteful as their benefactors,” Breslin said in his covering letter to Aynsley. “I wish you good luck in your hunt for the mountain of items which you loaned to your best and now worst customers.”