Banks had to regain lost ground in re-establishing trust with their clients, the President, Mrs McAleese, said yesterday as she marked the hundredth anniversary of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland.

The President said that recent events had shown the complexity of the relationship between banks and customers and the institute had a role to play in engendering trust.

"The role and importance of a body such as the Institute of Bankers takes on a new significance as the imperative becomes one of regaining lost ground, coping with the changes that it necessitates and restoring that precious equilibrium which is so essential for a healthy banking sector," she said. Launching A Century of Banking: The Life and Times of The Institute of Bankers in Ire- land 1898-1998, written by former business journalist, Mr Dan White, the President added that change was a feature of banking life, requiring flexibility and open-mindedness.

"As the book points out, the ability to change has been a feature of the institute, which came about as a result of developments in the banking sector a century ago," she said.

The president of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, Mr Tom Mulcahy, said that the euro's introduction represented a time of great change for banking and financial services, which would continue to require well-trained and highly-skilled staff.

"It is the job of the institute to help provide the necessary skills and training as effectively in the future as it has done over the past century," said Mr Mulcahy, who is also chief executive of AIB group.