National Irish Bank has raised £10,000 for Barnardos in the Republic through sales of its charity savings bonds. NIB had pledged to donate £5 for every Barnardos Savings Bond account opened during February and March.

The money raised from the bonds will be used to support Barnardos' work in family support services, helping children in after-school projects, day-care centres, child bereavement and family counselling services. The charity bond campaign has proved very successful in National Irish's sister bank Northern Bank, which raised £50,000 sterling to support children's charities in Northern Ireland over four years.