Irish lenders borrowed €103 billion from the European Central Bank last month, compared with €102.3 billion in May.

It was the first increase after a six-month slide that analysts say was fuelled by the debt agency's decision to temporarily place deposits with some lenders.

Other assets at the Central Bank, which includes exceptional liquidity assistance lending for Irish banks, was €55.7 billion, compared with €53.7 billion at the end of May.

"These numbers confirm that the pressures continue in terms of the Irish banking system even if the intensity of the problem has eased somewhat in recent months," said Austin Hughes, chief economist with KBC Bank.

"The change in June is not marked because most of the footloose deposits have already left the system."

Deposits at the six Government-guaranteed lenders fell by €25.8 billion during May, "largely as a result of movements of deposits by subsidiaries" of the banks, a spokesman for the central bank said on June 30th. June figures haven't yet been published.

ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet ruled out the possibility of the Frankfurt-based bank replacing existing short-term loans to Irish banks with a medium lending facility yesterday.

Ireland's banks are reliant on central bank loans to fund their day-to-day operations due to tens of billions of euro in deposit outflows and their exclusion from interbank lending markets.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters