Shares in AIB continued to weaken on the Irish market yesterday despite what were generally seen as good full-year results this week and the bank's first move into Internet banking.

AIB fell as low as €8.10 (£6.38) before recovering some ground in later trading, but still closed down 29 cents on €8.18.

Dealers said there were some signs of support for the share around that closing level but expressed no great confidence that the shares would rebound from their current level.

"It's just impossible to generate any enthusiasm for any Irish banking shares, but AIB is suffering more than the others just now," commented one analyst.

AIB's slump since the turn of the year coupled with Eircom's comparatively good performance over the same period and the strength of Elan, has meant that AIB has tumbled from its traditional position at the top of the Irish market by capitalisation to third, with a market capitalisation of €7.08 billion.

AIB now lags well behind Eircom which is worth €9.83 billion and Elan, which has leapt to the top of the rankings with a market value of €9.98 billion.