On yer bikes: Central bankers squeezed out of car spaces

So, what's the hot topic among staff the Central Bank at the moment? Is it how the regulator is going to cope with rising enquiries from London financial firms pondering whether they need to flee the City post-Brexit? Or whether there is a case for loosening up the mortgage caps?

If only. It seems that water-cooler chatter in Dame Street is dominated by something a little closer to the hearts of many individuals: how 97 car spaces in their shiny new headquarters on Dublin’s North Wall Quay will be allocated.

The Central Bank has promised that the seven-storey building nearing completion – which, remember, was once earmarked for Anglo Irish Bank – will be among the most environmentally friendly in the state.

But the gas-guzzling holders of about 180 spaces at the bank’s existing Dame Street and Iveagh Court premises have other concerns.

You don’t need to be a number cruncher in the bank’s insurance division to know that 180 into 97 doesn’t go.

Rumours that Cantillon heard of a lottery to be held next month on how the places will be divided have proved, alas, to be unfounded. RTÉ's Nuala Carey can stand down.

But it’s understood that the bank’s head honchos are considering a number of other options on how the allocate the prized slots before staff begin to move to the new premises in mid-December. It’s likely that staff on the markets and payments desks who start at the ungodly hour of 5.30am will be given a priority.

Those that lose their parking spaces under the move may wish to take a leaf out the books of the current and past governors. The incumbent, Philip Lane, is known to be an avid walker, while his predecessor Patrick Honohan often biked his way between meetings and events around Dublin when he was at the helm.

Employees will have little excuse. The new building will have 300 bike parking spaces. That’s up 120 per cent from the number currently at their disposal.