Deleveraging Update-Sale of Project Finance Loans

THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE BANK OF IRELAND (THE "BANK")

Deleveraging Plan Update - Sale of Project Finance Loans

The Bank announces that it has agreed to sell a portfolio of UK Infrastructure Project Finance loans, with total drawn and undrawn commitments of circa €0.2 billion to Aviva Special PFI LP, an investment vehicle established and managed by Aviva Investors, for a price of 81% of these commitments. The cash proceeds from this loan portfolio sale will further reduce the Bank's funding requirements, in line with the Bank's deleveraging plans and will have a broadly neutral impact on the Group's Core Tier 1 ratio.

On 24 April 2012, the Bank announced that it had completed or contracted divestments amounting to €9.5 billion (at an average discount of 7.6%). On the basis of the sale announced today and other deleveraging initiatives in progress, the Bank expects that it will be able to complete its target of €10 billion of divestments within the overall base case assumptions used as part of the 2011 Prudential Capital Assessment Review ("PCAR").

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Bank of Ireland

Andrew Keating Group Chief Financial Officer +353 (0)766 23 5141

Tony Joyce Head of Group Investor Relations +353 (0)766 23 4729

Dan Loughrey Head of Group Communications +353 (0)766 23 4770