EXTRA security staff were employed at the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin in recent days amid concerns over staff safety.

The Sunday Tribune can reveal the additional staff were placed at the doors of the St Stephen's Green building to allay staff and management fears after finance minister Brian Lenihan revealed the state-owned bank may need an additional €10bn of taxpayers' money. This is on top of the €8.3b committed on Tuesday as part of the €21.8bn bank recapitalisation.

The bank was unwilling to comment about the extra security but sources close to the bank said: "The bank took all necessary precautions in terms of security [for] the protest that was arranged for Thursday afternoon".

A protest organised by Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins last Thursday drew a small crowd where journalists and photographers outnumbered party activists. Crash barriers were erected on the footpath outside the Anglo building and around half a dozen gardaí were present along with the extra security staff in case the protest got out of hand.

Shouting into a megaphone, Higgins condemned the bailout and blasted "the criminals and the financial sharks in this building" as he pointed at Anglo HQ. "Workers are being sacrificed on the altar of speculative capitalism in this country to make up for the crimes of these people here, the senior people in Anglo Irish Bank."

It is unclear if the extra security staff, who will have to be paid from state coffers, were employed temporarily until public anger dissipates or on a more permanent basis.