Terms and Conditions

Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is registered in Ireland. Registered Office: 10 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. Registered Number 24173.
Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

1. This Site is established in Ireland in accordance with and subject to the laws of Ireland and will be governed by the laws of that country. When you use the Site, you accept that your use of the Site and any information on the Site (including these terms and conditions), will also be governed by the laws of Ireland and if any claim or dispute arises from your use of the Site and any of the information on it, you agree that the Irish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over all such claims or disputes.

2. The distribution of information on the Site may be restricted by local law or regulation in certain jurisdictions. The information is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any such jurisdiction and persons accessing these pages should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. If you are in any doubt as to whether this Site can be lawfully used by you please do not proceed further.

3. The information and the products and services on this Site are subject to specific terms and conditions, important legal notices, warnings and restrictions, such as restrictions concerning the persons to whom they may be made available. Details of specific terms and conditions, important legal notices, warnings and restrictions are set out on the pages to which they relate. You should read those details carefully before proceeding as they are important.

4. The information contained in this Site is for information purposes only and is not an invitation or offer to invest in any securities or other financial instruments of AIB or any other company or an invitation or offer to buy or sell any other products or services or otherwise deal in any of these or enter into a contract with AIB or any third party. The information provided does not constitute any form of advice, recommendation or arrangement by AIB and should not be relied upon by you in connection with any investment or other decision. If you do not understand or if you have any queries on any of the information on this Site, we recommend that you consult a qualified professional adviser.

5. While we have made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information on the Site is accurate at the time of inclusion we do not make any warranties, undertakings or representations as to the completeness, accuracy or reliability, availability, performance or functionality of this Site or any of its contents. We neither accept nor assume any responsibility to you in relation to the contents of this Site and we exclude all warranties, undertakings and representations (either express or implied) to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law.

6. The information in this Site may be updated or altered at any time without notification and may at times be out of date. All of the contents of this Site, including these terms and conditions, are subject to change by AIB without notice. We accept no responsibility for keeping the information in this Site up to date or liability for any failure to do so. AIB may change the technical specifications of this Site or any portion thereof or suspend the availability or change the system resource applicable to your use of this Site or any portion thereof.

7. Access to and use of this Site is at the user’s own risk and we do not represent or warrant that the use of this Site or any material downloaded from it will not cause damage to property, including but not limited to loss of data, computer virus infection, spyware, malicious software, trojans or worms.

8. AIB shall not be liable to you or to any person claiming through you for any loss or damages of any nature suffered including but not limited to loss of business revenues or anticipated savings, loss of profits, goodwill or any type of financial, punitive or exemplary, indirect or direct, consequential, special or similar loss or damages howsoever arising whether in contract, tort or otherwise and incurred and arising as a result of use of or inability to use this Site, including without limitation, as a result of:-

(i) any inaccuracy, incompleteness or any delay, interruption, error or omission in the delivery of any contents of this Site;

(ii) any decision made or action taken in reliance on any contents of this Site;

(iii) the loss of use, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the access, use, performance or functionality of this Site or any its contents; and/or

(iv) internet communications in connection with the use of this Site, any file or program available for download or execution from or via this Site and any content or websites linked from this Site.

Nothing in these terms and conditions attempt to exclude liability which is not permissible under applicable law, including for death or personal injury, or for fraudulent misrepresentation.

9. You may not use this Site to engage in activities which infringe the intellectual property or other rights of AIB and/or its licensors or in such a way so to compromise the privacy of others, to impersonate another person or for purposes which are immoral, illegal or destroy the integrity of any data or other computer based information or which would violate local, state or national laws of any country.

10. Save where otherwise appearing, the intellectual property rights and all other rights relating to the content (including without limitation, information, graphics, software, text, sounds, images, trade marks, service marks, trade names and logos) of this Site belong to AIB. The intellectual property rights and all other rights relating to content which is supplied in this Site under licence to AIB belongs to the relevant licensors. AIB and its licensors retain all right, title, interest and intellectual property rights in the content of this Site. Use of the content of this Site is restricted to personal use by you. You are granted a limited licence solely for your own personal, non-commercial use to download software from this Site and you are not permitted to alter, modify or adapt any software. Any storing, reprocessing, reutilising, reproduction, distribution, dissemination or transmission of all or part of the content of this Site is prohibited except where expressly permitted by AIB either on its own behalf or on behalf of its licensors. AIB is entitled to notify its licensors of your use of this Site and, in the event of any breach by you of their rights and you are notified of their right to take appropriate action.

11. Messages sent by e-mail over the internet may not be secure and can be intercepted by third parties or incorrectly delivered or corrupted. We are not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of messages sent or received by e-mail over the internet in connection with this Site. You should not divulge personal information over the internet unless you are using a secure or encrypted communications technology.

12. This Site contains hypertext links to:

(i) associated web sites maintained by AIB and you are warned that when you enter such sites, you will be subject to the terms and conditions of those sites; and

(ii) web sites not maintained by AIB and you are warned that when you enter other web sites via such hypertext links, you will not be subject to these terms and conditions and you will not benefit from the protections afforded to you in using our Site. AIB will not be liable in any way for the content, availability or use of such third party web sites and you use such links entirely at your own risk.

13. No third party is permitted to link any other web site to this Site without obtaining our prior written consent.

14. Copyright in the Site and the information set out on it belongs to AIB and may not be copied, transmitted or reproduced without AIB’s prior consent.

(i) Main copyright notices : Save where otherwise specified the contents of all the pages contained in this Site are © Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. 1995. Reproduction of part or all of the contents of the pages in any form is prohibited other than in accordance with the following express permissions. You may make an electronically stored, transient copy of these pages of this Site for the exclusive purpose of personal on-line viewing.

(ii) Assertion of moral rights : Save where otherwise specified the author(s) of the literary and artistic works contained in this Site has/have asserted his/her/their moral rights to be identified as the author of those works. Their identities are set out in the pages of the Site containing their works.

(iii) Prohibition against copying AIB Art Pages : The licences granted in relation to this Site DO NOT APPLY to the contents of the AIB Art Pages except as specified in (i) above. ALL reproduction of AIB Art Pages is prohibited, including printing and downloading.

(iv) Limited licence to copy to paper hard disk or diskette for personal use : You may print or download to disk the contents of the pages of this Site (other than those excepted from this licence under clause (iii) above) for personal reference and provided that all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices are left intact and that you may only make one copy thereof.

(v) General exclusions from licence : The limited licence to copy does not permit incorporation of the material or any part of it in any other work or publication, whether in hard copy or electronic or any other form. In particular (but without limitation) no part of this Site may be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose. No part of this Site may be reproduced on or transmitted to or stored in any other web site or other form of electronic retrieval system.

15. When using any discussion forum, bulletin board, blog or other interactive area on this Site (“Interactive Area”) you will be subject to the following conditions and all instructions, rules and supplemental terms and conditions, guidelines and principles posted on this Site from time to time, which, form part of these terms and conditions.

(i) All of the views expressed in any Interactive Area are purely the personal views of the authors and commentators (including authors working for AIB as members) and are based on their personal experiences and knowledge at the time of writing.

(ii) AIB does not offer financial or other advice through Interactive Areas. You should make sure to evaluate the relevance, accuracy and completeness of all information given in our Interactive Area before relying on the information in any important matters.

(iii) Without prejudice to the generality of Clause 8 of these Terms and Conditions, AIB shall not be liable for any loss you may suffer if you act, or do not act based on the views expressed in any Interactive Area.

(iv) AIB does not allow anonymous comments. Posts will be published on our Interactive Areas with the full name of the commentator/author submitting the post.

(v) You agree not to use any Interactive Area to upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available (‘post’) any content or material (including any links thereto) that:-
is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, false or inaccurate, an invasion of another’s privacy or otherwise objectionable; harms or exploits minors in any way; impersonates any person or entity, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; constitutes unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes or any other form of solicitation; you do not have the right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary or confidential information learned or disclosed as a part of employment relationships or under obligations of confidentiality); infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party; contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt our systems; or violates any applicable national or international law.

(vi) You shall not use any Interactive Area to stalk or otherwise harass another or collect or store personal data about other users of any Interactive Area.

(vii) Notwithstanding the above restrictions on Interactive Area posts, you understand that you may still be exposed to content that you consider offensive or objectionable and that you use Interactive Areas at your own risk.

(viii) As a provider of interactive services, AIB is not liable for the content of any posts provided by users of any Interactive Area. Although AIB has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the content posted on any Interactive Area, AIB reserves the right, and has absolute discretion, to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, edit, refuse or remove without notice any content posted on any Interactive Area at any time and for any reason, and you are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any content that you post on any Interactive Area at your sole cost and expense.

(ix) By posting comments on an Interactive Area you agree to allow the content to be re-used or quoted by AIB without further notification to you. AIB does not claim ownership to content you submit or make available for inclusion on an Interactive Area however you herein grant AIB a perpetual, royalty free and irrevocable right and licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, transmit, publicly display, sublicense, transfer and sell such content in any format whatsoever and to use the identifying information you provide in connection with the content. You also hereby waive in favour of AIB and AIB’s successors and assigns any and all moral rights you may have in such content under any legislation now existing or in the future enacted in any part of the world.

(x) AIB may discontinue or restrict your use of an Interactive Area for any reason without notice and without liability to you.

16. AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards

16.1. Participation in the Competition:

(i) The Allied Irish Banks plc (“AIB”) Future Sparks School Impact Awards Competition (“the Competition”) is only available to students currently enrolled in second-level education in the Republic of Ireland, between the ages of 12 and 19.

(ii) The closing date for receipt of entries is the 14th February 2025 at 11:59pm, or such a later date as may be advised by AIB.

(iii) How to enter: Each school must complete a Submission Form to enter the Competition and return by post to the AIB Future Sparks Project Office c/o Real Nation, 94 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2 , via online form on aibfuturesparks.ie, or by email to futuresparks@realnation.ie by the 14th February 2025 at 11:59pm.

(iv) Each group must be comprised of the set number of individuals in each category: Individual students, small groups (2-29 students), and large groups (30+ students)

(v) Teachers are to ensure that each participating student’s parent/guardian has given consent to be entered into the competition. Consent forms can be downloaded from aibfuturesparks.ie.

(vi) The number of entries submitted by a school is limited to one entry per pillar (Environmental; Financial; Social), per group size. In the case that two or more schools are collaborating on an activity, each individual school must submit their own submission; joint entries will not be permitted.

(vii) Any content deemed offensive or defamatory included in the submissions of any entry may result in disqualification from the adjudication process.

(viii) Directors, officers, employees, contractors or agents of AIB and its subsidiaries, affiliates (together referred to as “AIB”) or advertising or promotional agencies and members of their immediate families are not eligible to participate.

16.2 National Gala Awards Event

(i) The National Gala Awards Event is the awards ceremony for The AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards Competition. Representative principals, teachers and students from shortlisted schools will be invited to attend a National Gala Awards Event at Croke Park, Dublin, on the 29th April 2025.

(ii) A shortlist of up to 5 competition entrants per award will be compiled by the Judges, based on their opinion of the originality of the content submitted by the entrants and the total points awarded using the judging criteria. This information will then be validated by AIB to ensure that each shortlisted entrant is in compliance with condition(s) 16.1 (i) through to 16.1 (viii) above.

(iii) Shortlisted entrants will be contacted via the email and/or phone number supplied on their submission form.

(iv) In the event that a shortlisted entrant cannot be contacted or does not respond to the AIB validation notification within 2 days, another entrant of the Judges choosing will be substituted to the shortlist and contacted in the same manner. If any of the shortlisted entrants’ details are not validated, then a substitute entrant of the Judges’ choosing will be contacted in the same manner until the shortlist is completed.

(v) Photography, videography, and/or audio recording may take place at the event. All such imagery and content will become the property of AIB and may be used in promotional publications for the AIB Future Sparks Programme including but not limited to print, online on website and across social media platforms, television and presentations. All event attendees will be asked to sign a data consent form to this affect.

(vi) Attendees must complete a consent form or have a consent form completed on their behalf in the case of minors (those under 18 years of age) prior to attending the National Gala Awards Event. This form will be available on aibfuturesparks.ie and from the AIB Future Sparks Project Office at futuresparks@realnation.ie and will be sent to attendees prior to the event.

(vii) Consent forms will be collected by Real Event Management Ltd and stored on a secure database for a period of 1 year following the event.

16.3. Prizes

(i) Prizes awarded at the National Gala Awards Event will include:

List of Prizes	Prize Awarded
Overall Winner	€10,000
Mixed/Large group Financial (35+ students)	€2,000
Mixed/Large group Social (35+ students)	€2,000
Mixed/Large group Environmental (35+ students)	€2,000
Junior Small Group, Financial (2-34 students)	€1,250
Junior Small Group, Environmental (2-34 students)	€1,250
Junior Small Group, Social (2-34 students)	€1,250
Senior Small Group, Financial (2-34 students)	€1,250
Senior Small Group, Environmental (2-34 students)	€1,250
Senior Small Group, Social (2-34 students)	€1,250
Individual Senior (1 student – any pillar)	€500
Individual Junior (1 student – any pillar)	€500

(ii) The awards ceremony offers various prizes to the entrants’ school tailored to the different group sizes, including overall winning schools, large groups, small groups, as well as individual, each with specific financial values outlined above. Additional Recognition Awards will be awarded based on judges’ nominations for special merit.

(iii) Prizes will be in the form of bank transfer to the winning schools. All prize money is allocated for the winning school who will be responsible for determining how it is spent.

(iv) With the exception of the additional recognition award prizes, prizes awarded will be based on the highest marks allocated through the judging criteria and related scoresheet. The judges’ decision is final. See below for the judging criteria.

Criterion for Assessment	Number of marks allocated
How well the activity described aligns to the category selected.	Up to 5 marks
The reach and impact evidenced within the submission.	Up to 5 marks
The learning, skills developed or skills shared demonstrated.	Up to 5 marks
How inspirational the work was in affecting positive change within the community.	Up to 5 marks

(v) In the case of a tie break, the Judges will vote to determine the final decision on a winner in each category and group as well as the overall winner. The judging panel will be made up of an odd number of judges.

(vi) The judges will select the winners based on the originality of the content provided and which is, in the opinion of the judges, the most apt in terms of the competition spirit and entry requirements.

(vii) The judges’ decision is final and binding on all entrants. No correspondence will be entered into.

(viii) Additional recognition award prizes will be included at the discretion of the judges, AIB and/or Real Event Management Ltd. (trading as Real Nation). The judges’ decision is final.

(ix) Prizes are non-transferable. No alternative prize or cash prize will be offered.

16.4. Rules of general application to the School Impact Awards Competition

(i) The names of all the winning schools and teacher and student names as provided may be posted on aibfuturesparks.ie, aib.ie, and published online and in press, including but not limited to social media and newspapers.

(ii) Notwithstanding that a winner has been declared, if AIB discovers before the distribution of this opportunity that for any reason under these terms and conditions a winner should have been ineligible to enter the competition or if the entry should have been declared invalid, AIB reserves the right to determine that a winner is disqualified.

(iii) The winners will not have the right to choose an alternative prize or cash alternative. AIB reserves the right to substitute the prize for an item of similar value AIB Bank will not accept responsibility for defective goods or services won as prizes and any complaints must be referred to the relevant supplier.

(iv) Entrants’ consent to the disclosure of their name as a winner (if successful). The name of the winner may be obtained by any entrant to the competition by sending an email to futuresparks@realnation.ie. The winners may be required to take part in publicity and be required to contribute content to the AIB Social Media pages including but not limited to META platforms, LinkedIn and X.. This will be subject to consent from the individual and parent/guardian and approval by AIB.

(v) AIB reserves the right to amend, withdraw or terminate the competition, or awards event, or alter the specification without prior notice for reasons beyond their control.

(vi) AIB Bank and the judges will not enter into any correspondence in relation to decisions of the judges. The judges’ decision is final.

(vii) The prize winners may be required to take part in publicity (photographs, videos, interviews, quotations) and in registering for the Competition, agree to use their names and pictures and school name in relation to this. A consent form will be provided to confirm consent prior to participation.

(viii) All schools must ensure that students are covered under the school’s insurance scheme when travelling to any event relating to the AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards and/or AIB Future Sparks Programme (see aibfuturesparks.ie for more information), including the National Gala Awards Event.

(ix) The information provided by schools to AIB throughout this competition will be held and used solely for the purpose of administering the AIB Future Sparks Programme and AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards as a subsidiary of the AIB Future Sparks Programme. Data will be shared with Real Event Management Ltd. trading as Real Nation, and other trusted third parties to manage the AIB Future Sparks Programme. Your information will be stored for a period of 1 year after the AIB Future Sparks Programme has completed.

(x) To the fullest extent permissible in law, AIB Bank is free from any liability arising from participation in the competition or arising out of or in connection with any of the prizes.

(xi) By taking part in the Competition, AIB may ask participating students to take part in focus groups or surveys to give their views on the competition and any other related topics decided by AIB. If a student is asked to participate in a focus group, a consent form is to be signed by a parent/guardian prior to attending the focus group.

(xii) By completing the Submission Form, the School is deemed to have accepted the Terms & Conditions as set out here.

(xiii) This competition is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with META platforms, X or other social media platforms. By entering this competition, each entrant agrees to release Facebook.com or Instagram, from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind, either directly or indirectly related to or arising from the competition or from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize.

16.5. Personal Data: The information provided by you to AIB for the purpose of contacting the winners will be held and used solely for the purpose of this draw and will not be retained after the Competition.

16.6. Promotion and Organisation:

(i) The promoter is Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c., Registered in Ireland. Registered No. 24173. Registered Office: 10 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

(ii) The programme and event management company employed to assist Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. in project and event-managing the AIB Future Sparks Programme (and the AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards as a subsidiary) is Real Event Management Ltd. trading as Real Nation, Registered Office: 94 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2.

(iii) The Promoter reserves the right to refuse payment of any reward if there is any suspicion of fraud or in the event that winner notification has been incorrectly (e.g. by reason of technical fault, computer and/or printing error) printed and/or generated and/or sent to the winner on the Promoter’s behalf.

(iv) The Promoter accepts no responsibility for entries that are incomplete, illegible or fail to be redeemed by the relevant closing date for any reason.

(v) No warranty or guarantee is given by the Promoter in relation to any of the prizes and to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents, associated companies, and trading partners will not be liable for any loss, damage, delay, additional expenses, injury or death howsoever caused, whether in contract, tort (including without limitation, negligence, fraud or malicious act), statutory or otherwise arising out of the Competition or receipt or use of any prize awarded pursuant to the Competition and the Promoter does not recommend or guarantee the performance of any contractor or the obligations of any third parties associated with any prize (including without limitation the promoter of any prize) and will not be liable for any fraud committed by any third party.

(vi) The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any entries not received, or for undelivered or delayed messages which were unable to be sent or received due to technical failure or any other reason beyond its control. No responsibility will be accepted by the Promoter for failed, partial or garbled computer transmissions, for any computer, telephone, cable, network, electronic or internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, availability, for the acts or omissions of any service provider, internet, accessibility or availability or for traffic congestions or any unauthorized human act.

(vii) The Promoter reserves the right to vary, cancel or modify the Competition and/or the Terms and Conditions at any time and for whatever reason and/or amend or withdraw the Competition (and/or any related Prizes) in whole or in part at any time due to unforeseen circumstances. The Promoter is also entitled to vary the prizes if, due to unforeseen circumstances it becomes impossible to provide the prizes as described or in its opinion, it would be inappropriate in any way. In that event, prizes of equal or similar value will be offered.

(viii) During the Competition, any request or complaint concerning the Competition and Terms and Conditions may be sent to: AIB Group Marketing, 10 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, D02 R126. The Promoter will not engage in any correspondence related to the selection of any prize winner.

(ix) By entering the competition, you will be deemed to have read and agreed to the terms and conditions of the promotion.

(x) The Competition and these Terms and Conditions are governed by Irish law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.

16.6. Intellectual Property: By taking part in the AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards, the participating students (with consent from their parent/guardians) and teachers agree and acknowledge that any invention, idea, discovery, development, improvement or innovation, whether or not patentable or capable of registration, and whether or not recorded in any medium and all materials embodying them shall automatically belong to AIB to the fullest extent permitted by law. AIB can, at its sole discretion, waive all rights and entitlements accruing to it pursuant to this clause.

16.7. Disclaimer: Thank you for expressing an interest in taking part in The AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards 2024-25. By accessing any of the following obtained from the Project Office (futuresparks@realnation.ie), on aib.ie, or on aibfuturesparks.ie:

• Registration Pack
• Participation Pack
• Supporting Resources
• Event Pack

(collectively referred to as the “Materials”), you are deemed to accept, acknowledge and agree that:

(i) You must use the Materials, any software, firmware or devices provided by AIB exclusively in connection with ‘The AIB Future Sparks School Impact Awards 2024-25’;

(ii) The Materials are provided as guidance only and are subject to change from time to time. While AIB attempts to ensure the correctness of the Materials, it takes no responsibility for errors or omissions;

(iii) AIB will not be responsible or liable in any way for unauthorised reproduction of the Materials;

(iv) You will obtain no rights, title or interest in the Materials or intellectual property rights relating to them;

(v) The Materials contain hypertext links to websites which are provided for information purposes only and which are not maintained by AIB and upon entering other websites via such hypertext links you will be subject to the terms and conditions of those websites;

(vi) AIB will not be liable in any way for the content, availability, use or reliance upon the information on any third party websites and use of such is entirely at your own risk;

(vii) AIB will not be responsible for or liable in any way in respect of any costs, damages, expenses, liabilities or losses whatsoever (including any suffered by you as a result of an action brought by a third party) which may arise from use of the Materials, use of third party websites and/or use of any third party materials;

(viii) You are responsible for any third party costs which may apply in relation to the means used by you to access the Materials, third party websites and/or any third party materials;

(ix) AIB will not be responsible for or liable in any way for any corruption of the Materials or in respect of any breakdown, interruption or errors caused to your software or hardware which results from the use of the Materials, third party websites and/or any third party materials; and

(x) Security software (e.g. anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software) maintenance is entirely your own responsibility.