That distant rumbling sound they can hear at AIB’s headquarters is the avalanche of lawsuits launched this week by disgruntled Belfry funds investors.

The six boom-time funds, managed by tech investor Tony Kilduff's Cheval Properties and marketed by AIB, raised €300 million and, like everything back then, leveraged the bejaysus out of it to buy property abroad. The directors told investors last year that, bar the first fund, all equity has been wiped. Cue grief and anger. An action group was formed to sue AIB, Cheval, the funds and their directors, including Kilduff, over how their cash was handled.

About 350 separate cases have been filed by Tom Casey Solicitors since the weekend, presumably with an eye on the statute of limitations.

The courts are currently heaving with lawsuits involving banks. The poor investors? Well, they’re just heaving.