Sinn Féin says it has been anonymously given the 'Anglo Tapes'. The party says that it will not publish the tapes now on legal advice, but are retaining a copy.

The party has called for an immediate banking inquiry.

The tapes were published by Independent Newspapers and raised concerns that Anglo may have misrepresented its financial position when it sought Central Bank support in 2008.

The Governor of the Central Bank has previously said that the behaviour in the Anglo tapes was 'outrageous', but it did not shed any new light on the on-going investigation.

In September, the Central Bank decided to drop an investigation into the Anglo tapes. It said it found there was nothing new in the recordings to warrant a criminal complaint.

Sinn Féin Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty says he has passed the recordings to the gardai and the Central Bank.

And he says many of the details in the recordings are not in the public domain.