The Zombie is dead

In the last 2 years the expression “Labours way or Frankfurt’s Way” has been thrown back at Labour from the right wing cynics.  Often these people take the term out of context.  It was a line contained in a speech by Eamon Gilmore during the 2011 General Election.  He was speaking about how Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had accepted the financial straight jacket of the bail out terms set out by the Troika.  Of the troika it seems the IMF & EU are capable of being flexible in relation to the conditions of the bail out. The EU needs a country to emerge from the fiscal hell of bail out.  The IMF was not the boogie man it was held up to be. It’s the end of 2 things, Anglo (IBRC) debt and the promissory note by which FF & the greens bailed out the failed bank.

It’s the ECB, our friends in Frankfurt that Eamon Gilmore identified who need to get real in relation to the impact of the bail out.  Liquidating IBRC or Anglo is something that should have happened in 2008. It’s exactly what the ECB may not like but austerity isn’t just for citizens, perhaps it’s for institutions too. The dry reference to the Irish operation and taking note of the arrangement between the Irish government and the Irish Central Bank can cover a multitude of things now and into the future. Our friends in Frankfurt may need to swot up Irish politics.

The politics of the liquidation is interesting. Labour opposed the bank guarantee on the basis of a liquidation being a better than the state bailout.  The logic of that position is to liquidate. Sinn Fein supported the bail out and now oppose the liquidation. There is a perverted logic in that too if you’re a banker, developer or believer ion socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.  Strange given that the party is concerned at the number of state employees earning more than €100K and IBRC has a significant number of them. Predictable given that the legislation halts any legal actions against IBRC and there still remains the matter of the Quinn assets to be decided by the courts. Sinn Fein have been hugely supportive of Quinn.  What happens to Quinns properties now will be a matter for the court and the liquidator.  It’s not the first time company law has needed emergency legislation.  Administration was brought in to save PMPA, Examinerships to save Goodman.  The more convoluted and complex the fiscal shambles becomes the more exposed Sinn Fein policy is exposed for its naivety. Are they spooked by the independents right and left?    

The liquidator will pass on performing assets to NAMA and then dispose of the left overs.  Many employees may be re-employed at NAMA but under different contracts and salaries.  Ironically Libertas who opposed the Fiscal treaty argued voting No would lead to a better deal on bank debt.  In fact the opposite has proved correct. The beast is dead, deeply regretted by Gerry Adams and Libertas but I for one, shed no tears. Time to move on.

When in a hole, Stop Digging!

I admire Séan Quinn’s achievement in business down through the years in the border area. It’s a success I’m familiar with as I have strong family connection with that part of the country and 30 years ago when cousins told me that a local man wanted to take on Cement Roadstone I didn’t think it was possible to build your own cement factory and take on that monopoly that existed in Ireland at the time. To give credit where credit is due Quinn provided valuable employment in an area that 30 years ago had poor access and was savaged by emigration and the troubles. As a kid the only industry I remember in Ballyconnell was Star Plastics, a company long since consumed by globalistion

The Quinn family have been held up as a good example of what can be achieved through hard work.  Just as Quinn’s success is entirely credited to his own business acumen, but his well documented slide has been his own fault also. To quote a line from the prayer that ended the protest meeting in Ballyconnell “Lead us not into temptation”. Ironically if Séan Quinn had not given into the temptation to buy Anglo Irish Bank for himself and his family alone, in 2005, then he would still control his companies and would still remain a relatively wealthy and respected captain of industry. While his supporters tend to portray the Quinn Family as the local boy fighting against the establishment, the irony is that Quinn is himself establishment, brother of the former GAA President, once owner of The Belfry Golf club, home to the Ryder Cup.

My recollection of the period 2005 -08 was that Mr Quinn slowly and secretly built up his share holding.  This secrecy was helped by Contract for Difference a financial mechanism that gave him control of the shares without having to publically declare the shares on a register while at the same time having an each way bet on share values. He controlled the share holding at a fixed price, is the shares increased in value he could sell them and take the profit without it being public knowledge that he ever owned the shares.  It took sometime to establish who was building up these shares in Anglo at the time. Seán Quinn needs to explain why he was so secretive about buying Anglo then. We know he publicly acknowledges buying Anglo shares was a mistake but he never mentions the secrecy, Why?

Move on to 2008.  When Anglo’s share price started to collapse the Anglo bosses then hatched a plan to loan money to a select group to buy Quinns shareholding so as to artificially and secretly inflate the banks share price and stop Quinn losing money. This scheme was all about sucking in unsuspecting investors at the bottom. These investors weren’t just speculators hoping to make money, they also included pension schemes and people relying on a sound investment to fund retirement.  One of the group called the Maple 10 who received money to buy the Quinn shares was…..Sean Quinn himself! He and his family members were loaned €650M to buy 15% of his own shares! Months later the then Government’s bank guarantee scheme saved Anglo and subsequently when Anglo was wrongly nationalised the assets against these loans fell into the remit of the recovery agency trying to retrieve some of the €30 plus billion that the state threw at the shell of a bank.  

Mr Quinn famously refused interviews by the media for a long time, it is ironic that it is now to his workers and the community that he now looks publicly for support.  The Quinn Family have played a very peculiar game in tugging at the communities heart strings not unlike the manoeuvring of shamed politicians closer to home in our recent past.   From this distance some may ask why do local people blindly support him?  Simply put, both sides of the border are areas where there exists detachment from what represents the state on either side of the border. Filling this void is a curious mix of the Catholic Church, GAA and Nationalist politics.  Quinn provided Bertie Ahern with a helicopter during the 2007 General Election.  It is sad to see people who should know better from the religious and sporting fields supporting Sean Quinn publicly.

Your programme has highlighted in the past much of pain that ordinary people locally have suffered due to some of the disastrous corporate and political decisions taken in the first decade of this century. From SNA’s to waiting lists, social welfare cuts to emigration. What people really need to understand is that the corporate chicanery and the failure of the regulator and past political masters are what trashed our society. It is the these who must carry the can for education, health and social welfare cuts.

There was a time when Sean Quinn was seen to be part of the answer to monopolies and would challenge and develop our economy. One of his supporters Michael O’Leary could be included in that bracket too. It is sadly obvious that Sean Quinn is now part of the problem and not a solution. He should comply with the High Court order and allow the tax payer recover what can be got so as to reduce the exposure of the state to this disastrous era of cowboy economics.  The one piece of advice I can give that a Quarry owner like Mr Quinn may recognise is this; When in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging       

The kindness of strangers

Eventually we were found out on the banks. What looked like the cutest move 2 years ago to guarantee al the account holders in Irish banks and the bond holders who leant to them to a total value of €300 Billion has bounced on Fianna Fail, the Greens, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein. Tonight its clear that the EU and the IMF see the down side of this.
Bail Out 1 in 2008 was rolled out to restructure the banks leading to the line under the affair on Black Thursday in September. The problem is that the value of €50 Billion which FF told us would be the cheapest bail out ever and that would ensure Ireland would be the first out of recession has only made matters worse because the €50 B figure isn’t believed anymore by the money market.

So the advance party is on it’s way and will be here by the end of the week. The problem is that the Greens and Fianna Fail nationalised banking debt accumulated by bank rolling the FF developer buddy clique. The prospect of allowing Anglo or the Irish Nationwide to go to the wall was a step too far for FF and the greens. Thence the ultimatum that seems to have been given from EU member states as the prospect of dithering is destabilising the euro and pressurising Spain and Portugal. The big question is has the EU got enough to support the Spanish and Portuguese economies? So when they plane lands at Dublin Airport in the next few days and the officials from the EU or ECB or IMF or more likely all 3 arrive in Merrion St they should consider bringing a bottle of whiskey to break the atmosphere. As the old Irish proverb says “There’s no strangers here only friends who haven’t yet met”

Black Thursday was supposed to draw a line under the past however the markets don’t believe the government’s figure of €50 Billion. Indeed the markets have made their mind up on the government. The humiliation of a nation will follow as Fianna Fail will dress the bail out as a bank bail 2!
They’ll continue with the line that there is no bail out but there is additional support for the bank industry. What they won’t point out is that the bank guarantee scheme backs private debt with the states resources! In 2008 the fiscal difficulties that our government adjusted spending to cope with were caused by a reduction in tax income not by a spending requirement to sustain the unsustainable. Throw in the national fault lines within the eurozone and the internal need to support each states own economy and it’s a short hop and a skip and a jump from the Galway Tent to Anglo Irish to Merrion St and before you know it you’ve the Euro on the slide and the internal economies of 5 states in the melting pot.

As a guide to how we’ve fallen Russia Today has some guy comparing Ireland to a 3rd world dictatorship where the general has made off with the money. In such countries at least a coup usually followed. So how close are we to social strife now? Where will this end for Cowen, Ahern, Harney, McCreevy and the banking elite? The kindness strangers is seemingly more attractive to our society than the greed of old friends.

Banking on Lehmans to bail out the bluFFers!

The standard FF defence for presiding over the shambles that has been Ireland’s banks in the last 2 years has been “Lehmans and Bear Sterns were a shock to the system”. Expect to hear a lot more of this when the Irish banking inquiry gets going. The commission will be chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank who’s been a loan voice within that organisation calling for accountability and an international “wise man”. They cannot look at anything that happened since September 30th which means that NAMA, events in Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Nationwide and the role of the regulator who told us that the Irish banks are the best capitalised in the world in the events of late 2008 are beyond the scope of the inquiry. The relationship between the Finance Department and the banks as well as the regulator and the banks will be examined too. It’ll be mostly in secret and those giving evidence will be spared the embarrassment of the media and public discussion of their evidence. The first stage will be all over by May (we’ll see about that!). These reports will be laid before the Oireachtas and will be the basis of a commission to inquire further and will wrap up by years end. Irish bankers doubtlessly still deeply grateful to the government will be treated with kid gloves by the Greens & Fianna Fail in comparison to their counterparts elsewhere. Current government policy is off limits, of course.


I’m totally underwhelmed and I don’t think that the inquiry will restore confidence in the banking system. I believe there should have been a wider scope along the lines Eamon Gilmore argued. Firstly clarify the extent of the Supreme Court judgement into the Abbeylara Case and see if the intention was to end all Oireachtas inquiries or just those that may lead to a negative finding affecting an individual. If the matter is clarified satisfactorily change the law to allow Oireachtas inquiries again. The Abbeylara Inquiry determined in the context of an Oireachtas Committee into the events surrounding the killing of a man by the gardaí.
Too much has been relied on in this judgement on which to base an opinion surrounding all inquiries. What is interesting is that the Abbeylara judgement precluded adverse findings of fact and conclusions in relation to a named person not a member of the Oireachtas. So why can an Oireachtas inquiry not ask members of the Oireachtas about their role in the collapse? Brian Cowen and Bertie Ahern are not protected by the Supreme Court judgement. Both have played key roles in determining the relationship between the FF, the banks and developers. Surely these 2 could throw a little light in their part in the slump? Add in Mary Harney.

So the best that the Greens can get out of FF is the “tried and trusted” mechanism that served the government so well in Ferns, Murphy, and the Ryan Reports. My recollection of these reports were that some chapters were withheld from publication, and that culprits hid behind letters, while senior management in the garda bent the rules while those on the ground tried their best. But unlike Murphy, Archbishop Martin didn’t inquire into the behaviour of paedophile priests in Dublin diocese, he co-operated as head of the diocese. The Greens spent weeks promising acocuntability and fell way short again. What's new?
However the Governor of the bank is now charged with investigating his own banks behaviour. This is setting the man up for a fall! I believe that Prof Holohan is genuine in his intention to get to the bottom of the scandal but he will be hampered because many of those who preside over the light touch regulation at the bank are still there. He’s in an invidious position. I forecast that co-operation will be less than whole hearted and the momentum of the inquiry will run into turbulence. Add to this the pedestrian pace of the year long garda inquiry into Anglo and the need to protect the identity of those responsible being released so I reckon that all we’ll find out is that Banker A was put in charge by an internal interview process that was overseen by Bankers B & C. A along with Banker D ignored the loans approval committee which was chaired by B and provided monies for Banker E who is related to C to buy shares in Company F which was part owned by individual G through Contracts For difference that was arranged by Banker H.


The greens and FF have provided those with an interst in obstructing an inquiry with a golden opportunity to do just that. In the end will confidence in the banking system be restored by this inquiry? Will Brian Cowen and Bertie Ahern have to account for what they did, explain the cancerous growth of FF, Bankers and Builders, well to quote the late Jim Gogarty when he asked for a receipt from Ray Bourke, “Will we f---?”

Wexford’s St Patrick’s Day Parade in the sun

Wexford lived up to its image of the sunny south east as today’s parade was bathed in sunshine from start to finish. It was an impressive show of community involvement as the parade led as usual by the colour party of RDF and the Defence Forces Pipe Band took well over 75 minutes to pass the reviewing stand at Wexford’s Quays. On the reviewing stand was the Leas Ceann Comhairle Brendan Howlin, Mayor Ted Howlin, County Council Chairman Peter Byrne, Catholic Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brennan, Senator Lisa MacDonald, Sean Connick TD and a handful of hanger’s on from local politics like myself!
It was a wonderful parade with over 20,000 watching as the parade moved along the quays. The float that caught my eye was the Danescastle Group who usually cast a cynical eye on something topical. A number of years ago they had “Gardaí” chasing “Eco-warriors” while “ESB men with chainsaws” tried to cut down trees. This year was no different.
They had Anglo Irish Bank fat cats waving money set against a backdrop of a crowded dole office while a politician preached patriotic duty to the onlookers. I wonder who they had in mind? I really liked it so I waved a €5 note back at them! Following on their tail was a delivery bicycle with the door of a certain helicopter balanced precariously and an embarrassed Minister in tow. It was suggested that the Taoiseach should show the minister involved the door however, it seems he’s seen enough of it already! There’s nothing like the Irish to take our own do a peg or two! Indeed if you look closely at my picture you’ll find “Investors in the Sun” right behind the Anglo Irish Bank float. How appropriate!
The rugby club had a pitch on the back of a trailer and the forwards were scrumming as they passed the stand, all looking forward to Cardiff next Saturday. The Gertrude Walsh School of Irish Dancing was up late last night performing at the St Patrick’s Eve Show in White’s Hotel and they were early risers again today as they danced their way along the quays. My own daughter is in there somewhere! The pikemen in their 18th century costumes also marched while the Tallaght Youth Band and An t-Inbhearr Mór from Arklow brought a little bit of razzmatazz to proceedings with their American style majorette display. There was Kung Fu, Clonard, Shelmaliers, St Mary’s Rosslare from GAA, Wexford Albion and North End from Soccer while the Gymnastic Club as usual put on their display. Scouts and Girl guides were also present.
Chun criochnadh bhí clan George Furlong ar an árdan inniu. Do bhí George ceannaire an Coiste Suiloid Namh Padraig í Loch Garman leis na blianta anuas ach cailleadh é annuraidh. Bhí a mhac ag freastal mar breitheamh don suiloíd agus ceapim go raibh post an deacair aige!

Nationalisation the Irish solution to the Anglo Irish problem

Some time ago I got a contribution on a post on Anglo Irish from a pensioner who invested a significant sum in Anglo Irish and now it was almost gone. Tonight’s nationalisation effectively ends that investment and its people like him who I have most sympathy for tonight, his money is gone and he will have to accept whatever the government proposes as compensation and to add insult to injury he’ll now see his taxes go to fund the bank into the future.
According to George Lee the government u-turn occurred as significant investors had withdrawn money during the week and there was a fear of a run on the bank. Interestingly the move occurred just hours ahead of the EGM when shareholders were set to ask hard questions of the directors and executives not just in relation to the loans to the former CEO and Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick and as to who in the bank knew what and at what stage but also in relation to the role of the auditors and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The defence by IFSRA at the Dail committee this week that officials knew in Autumn 2007 about the activities of Sean Fitzpatrick yet did nothing as they were “too busy” raised many eyebrows among investors. No other issue has publicly brought so much attention to IFSRA so one wonders as to the extent of the matter that officials considered more important than the mere borrowing of in excess of €78M by an official from his own bank that had kept IFSRA busy at this time!
Based on the share price about 35% of the banks present capitalisation is presently tied up in a loan to Mr Fitzpatrick. I hope that Mr Fitzpatrick will be able to meet his obligations to his new shareholder and it would be interesting to have heard from the EGM where the money was invested by Mr Fitzpatrick and as to how he proposed to repay. The reason for the EGM has now disappeared but it goes ahead without a motion on recapitalisation.

Other questions need to be answered about the purchase of shares in Anglo by Sean Quinn and as to how this purchase was financed. As with the Fitzpatrick loan the purchase was less than transparent. I actually expected the government to move much faster at Anglo and I posted about a month ago that it could well happen over the Christmas when most markets are closed. It is certainly very unusual for a nationalisation to happen over a working night and not a week-end. Is it any wonder that the NY Times described Ireland as the wild west of European finance? The state will find it cheaper to buy the bank using the NTMA rather than re-capitalise. Trading in shares will be suspended. But what now for the country’s newest civil servants, what will happen the bank?
It seems to me that the bank is finished. Fianna Fail, the builders and the bankers may look on the nationalisation as the end of an era. However with the right management I hope something could be saved and it could be the start of a new epoch. But this move is a reluctant move and the government statement shows no sense fo being committed for the long haul or bing prepaed to resell in the medium term. There is a certain irony of Fianna Fail and the Green Party complete with Trevor Sargent who famously produced cheques sent to members of Dublin County Council from developers now stepping in to save developers from collapse by shoring up the bank that lent them money in the first place. The golden circle of Fianna Fail, money and speculators continues to thrive despite fiscal adversity using as cover an excuse that if one bank fails they’re all in trouble. Lets see the state taking as supportive a role with pension schemes many as insolvent as Anglo Irish Bank. I think an inspector should be appointed to look forensically at the bank’s activity in the past and deal with historic issues and that a management team be appointed to work through the bank’s commercial debts/loans and see what can be retrieved from that for the benefit of the new shareholder, the citizen.

Uncertainty continues in Irish banking circles

Against a background of resignations and rumour the Irish banking industry stumbles on. Anglo Irish, IFSRA and next it’s speculated Bank of Ireland. This week end saw the announced retirement of the CEO of IFSRA Patrick Neary following criticism of his office over communication failures arising from Sean Fitzpatrick’s loans from his own bank Anglo Irish. There is a real need for a more stringent regulatory framework in the financial services sector and before anyone else takes over at IFSRA they have that right to significnatly increased powers.
However with the EGM of Anglo Irish due at the end of this week shareholders will doubtless have an interest in one paper today. Further evidence of links between the bank and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority emerged. Lets recap on previous links, Sean Fitzpatrick former Anglo Irish CEO was a member of the DDDA board when developers who were Anglo Irish customers received planning permissions from the authority. Lar Bradshaw who chaired the DDDA joined the Anglo Irish board but resigned with Fitzpatrick. Now it seems a DDDA board member is married to a top Anglo Irish official who works in the bank’s private finance operation. Of course there's no suggestions of anything other than the highest ethical practise as Anglo Irish's track record stands shoulder to shoulder with other Irish financial institutions as exemplary. However the paper noted that no one was available to speak and phone calls weren't returned. Why is Anglo Irish employing a financial spin firm in London?
By this time next week the Department of Finance may have persuaded shareholders that it should control 75% of the Anglo Irish shares. Perhaps it’s time to send in an inspector to investigate before the necessary legislation is passed. Any returning immigrant would be confused where Anglo Irish has come from. If Bank of Ireland was ascendancy 19th century money, Allied Irish was Lemass era 1960’s money the bank that once congratulated a customer who became Taoiseach with a salutary letter intoning this great little country, then Anglo Irish is Celtic tiger money.

Building a society is not the same as making a profit in a free market economy. A handful of players have effectively driven the economy into the ground in their endless pursuit of profit. Developers, cheap finance and Fianna Fail created a myth of wealth based on appreciating asset values while elsewhere there was very little happening. When it came to leisure the phalanx of universal master’s sport of choice was horse racing, builders invested in bloodstock and bested one another to own larger stables of thoroughbreds. Cheltenham became the Galway tent on tour. Presumably from their perspective there’s no sport more appropriate for Ireland’s new royalty than the sport of kings. Indeed Anglo Irish sponsored the opening day of the festival the now ironically entitled Supreme Novices Hurdle for 4 year old horses. Ironically some developers are now off loading their horses anxous not to be seen in the social columns at race meetings.

Anglo’s singular pursuit of commercial investment has exposed it to ruination. As a consequence 4 year olds in this country will now have increased class sizes to pay for the party. Amazingly Cheltenham 2009 again sees Anglo Irish Bank sponsor this Cheltenham race despite their finacial colapse. How much does this cost and why should shareholders wear it any further? What does the new putative shareholder Brian Lenihan think of the horse fest sponsored by a zombie bank for insolvent Irish developers and party supporters in the Cotswolds for which the Irish taxpayer may well foot the bill? Surely spending hard earned euros in Her Majesties domain contradicts Lenihan’s warning about patriotic duty?

Finally I’ve checked the field 2 months out from Cheltenham for the Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices Hurdle and it may prove embarrassing to Anglo Irish and the Minister that at this stage good prices are available for Honest John, Does Less Than Me, Endless Intrigue, and you’d better believe this it’s true, Conflict of Interest! No better epithet for the Celtic Tiger era. At least on this gamble my hands will stay firmly in my pockets!

Anglo Irish bonuses take the biscuit

Just why are top executives at Anglo Irish Bank being paid bonuses? It seems that the outgoing CEO who resigned when it became public knowledge that the Chairman admitted that he had been less than transparent with his own financial dealings sanctioned Christmas bonuses when he was on the way out the door. Bonuses are generally given n the basis of achievement or reaching a target so how exactly did top executives in Anglo Irish Bank hit these targets given that the bank is now worth less than 1% of it’s value from mid 2007? One suit justified the money on the basis that he may need it as he might lose his job. Quite a number of building workers on the projects that the bank speculated on may not have a job tomorrow, will Anglo be cutting these workers a few quid? Highly unlikely!

Could it be that when commercial clients completed loans that the exec that did the deal was on a percentage of the deal as a personal bonus? If that was so in the circumstances of these commercial deals being the noose from which Anglo Irish now dangles should the bonuses not be cancelled since it is the tax payer who’s going to have to carry the can for the bad decisions made by the bank? Could the Department of Finance not indicate to the bank that in view of the states decision to rescue it, that any decisions made by the bank that exposes the bank to further liability, the directors would be personally liable for by a surcharge. If I as a councillor was to vote in favour of a proposal knowing that the funds were not there to meet the cost, I would be potentially liable for a surcharge, not so for the master's of the universe!

Now in the reality of the position the bank is in, the “significant end of year bonuses” may not push it over the edge but in a climate where taxpayers are being asked to shoulder an unfair burden of the cost of the cowboy era better known as the Celtic Tiger, a more realistic approach in keeping with prudent money management would be more in keeping with the general mood right now.
Anglo however contracted a London based financial communications firm Tavistock Communications to spin their way through for the moment. One of their former directors acted as adviser to David Cameron and John Major during the 1992 UK General Election, that’s the one that proceeded the recession. Indeed Cameron can be seen in the infamous footage of Norman Lamont on Black Monday 1992 announcing the pound’s withdrawal from the ERM. Their AGM will be held almost 90 years to the day from the calling of the first Dail in Dublin’s Mansion House at the same venue where the democratic programme of that republic was passed by the state after it was proposed by Labour leader Tom Johnson TD. The chairperson and their spin doctors may consider the following extracts at their EGM from that programme“We declare that the Nations sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the nation but to all its material possessions…., all the wealth and all the wealth producing processes within the Nation", or “In return for the willing service we, in the name of the republic, declare the right of every citizen to an adequate share of the produce of the Nation’s labour”.

Perhaps having reflected on this they may consider forgoing their bonuses, indeed one may wonder why they need to got to the UK for advice when their HQ is round the corner from their new shareholder the Department of Finance and I wonder does the minister approve of this move given his call for patriotic action. Anyhow, there’ll be more than the ghost of zombie banks shuffling around the Mansion House at the EGM, that’s if Anglo as we know it survives that long

Anglo Irish Bank Directors jump before they’re pushed

Anglo Irish Bank’s Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick has resigned after it emerged that he had loans of €87M off the balance sheet to support his investment in the bank. Mr Fitzpatrick had a facility to arrange personal loans from the bank and to re-arrange these loans with another bank temporarily for 8 years on his own admission. These loans were not declared on the Anglo Irish Bank accounts. The bank proposes to include the loans on the 2008 set of accounts. Another director Lar Bradshaw has also resigned. Fitzpatrick claims he (Bradshaw) was unaware of his financial arrangements.

My initial response is where was the auditor and how could a loan to this extent have been missed? The auditors are Earnest & Young a highly reputable firm. To make matters more interesting the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan TD tonight says that his commitment to underwrite the capital needs of Anglo Irish Bank and to ensure its "long term strength and viability as a bank of systemic importance in Ireland. This bank is not just a zombie bank but it seems as essential to FF and their developer friends as Banco Ambrosiano was to the finances of the Vatican City.
In 2007 Fitzpatrick slammed the regulatory regime of the financial sector as “Corporate McCarthyism”. Fitzpatrick said that Ireland’s current economic success was almost entirely due to the country’s entrepreneurs and had little to do with politicians. "You can’t keep good people down forever. It is time to shout stop. The tide of regulation has gone far enough. We should be proud of our success, not suspicious of it. Our wealth creators should be rewarded and admired not subjected to levels of scrutiny which convicted criminals would rightly find intrusive.", he said.
Tonight he seems to be of a different frame of mind “My decision to tender my resignation has been prompted by the fact that at the 30th September, 2008, I had fully secured loans, on normal commercial terms, with the Bank totalling €87 million which will be included in the annual report for 2008 in the note relating to Directors’ Loans. This balance is substantially higher than in the 2007 report because in prior years I had temporarily transferred my loans to another bank before each year end. I had done this on my own initiative over an eight year period. The transfer of the loans between banks did not in any way breach banking or legal regulations. However it is clear to me, on reflection, that it was inappropriate and unacceptable from a transparency point of view.”
Personally I feel there is surely more than to this than meets the eye. I find it incredible that a CEO could go transfer cash without someone somewhere noticing something askew, either in the bank or in the audit. Are the account holders in the bank being taken for a ride? Even still? The Irish stock exchange launched an inquiry into share purchases by Fitzpatrick in the run up to FF, FG and SF deciding to provide a guarantee in September.
Earlier this year Mr Fitzpatrick said he believed the Irish people owed him a debt for maintaining his investment in the bank. Mr Fitzpatrick recently advised the government to cut child benefit, sack civil servants and cut back on spending.
Mr Fitzpatrick has also resigned as a non executive member from the board of Aer Lingus the national airline currently the subject of a take over proposal from Ryanair, Smurfit Kappa and Greencore. Greencore and Michael Smurfit were also the source of other business scandal in the 1990’s arising from allegations of a financial golden circle surrounding then Fianna Fail leader Charles Haughey. He also said he slept well the night of the €400B bailout that kept Dail Eireann working through the night, presumably he may now have difficulty tonight on this score.
My own concerns are that something may well happen in the near future in the banking sector. Christmas will provide the cover when markets are closed to make the move. Shares in Anglo Irish will be under pressure tomorrow if the suspicion is that there is much more to this than meets the eye. The only way to stop this type of instability is for the state to nationalise the bank. Watch this spot or blogpsot!