Can you do a deal with a vulture fund?

With the big US funds moving in on Ireland's debt, what happens next for homeowners and businesses alike? Barry J Whyte reports.

Playing ball is vital. You give them the information; no holding back; no tongue in cheek. Full disclosure. The outcome will be the same no matter how you play it out.

Last month, Edmund Honohan, the Master of the High Court, took aim at the vultures.

Specifically referring to the sale of about 13,000 mortgages from the former Irish Nationwide - which was completed last week - he made some impassioned comments about how Irish homeowners needed to know they can fight back.

''A defaulting borrower who is in difficulties, he told one daily newspaper, ''has to be prepared to deal with the new ...