Bad night for Ireland but an appalling night for Lenihan

I have often been critical of the decisions that Brian Lenihan has taken as Minister for Finance. In the last year I have blogged about how government decisions on NAMA, banking, pay and budgetary cuts have impacted on the country. As line minister Brian Lenihan is responsible for these but he acted at the behest of a collective cabinet. All ministers share the responsibility of their decisions in cabinet. I am implacably opposed to many of the decisions this government has made.

However I’m shocked at how news of the minister’s health has been released by TV3. Surely the channel that learnt just 2 days ago of the minister’s condition should have sat on the news? The minister has said that he’ll meet the press early in the new year. Do I have the right to know about the minister’s serious health concern now? I don’t think so. This is, in my view, an invasion of the minister and his families privacy. Where exactly is the line between the public’s right to know and the individual’s right to privacy? It seems to me that the TV channel has gone too far on this. While RTE reported the matter there was no reportage nor expert opinion nor indeed effective obituary of the minister as TV3 reported. I’m certain that the TV3 report will be the basis of a complaint to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of Ireland on the basis that it infringed the Minister’s right to privacy.
Given the reality of 24 hour electronic media and the right of anyone to use this information as they see fit, it was certain that some sick clown would find the space to level at the minister and already a facebook page has been set up hoping that the minister dies of a tumour. While the TV channel is not directly responsible for the clown’s behaviour, the reality is that the page wouldn’t be there but for the nature of the news report. When TV3 comes looking for a better share of the TV license fee I wonder what the response for the government will be?
John Crown is an eminent Oncologist and advocate for a better health service in this country. I respect him greatly however tonight he did himself or his views any good by allowing himself to be interviewed in relation to the matter. The nature of a 2 minute piece to camera speculating on the possible outcomes for someone who is not his patient is bad taste. My respect for him is less tonight as indeed it is for Michael O’Leary who published ads lampooning Mary O’Rourke (Lenihan’s aunt) at the time of her own husband’s death.
There have to be boundaries in public life and the need for a different news angle so as to attract viewers cannot dictate the norms in relation to an individual’s privacy. I don’t like to attack the media but having seen TV3 tonight it deserves a rap on the knuckles this time. I now fear that tabloid papers will rush in where TV3 has gone. Nobody will come well out of this. Rightly Brian Lenihan will get the sympathy of the Irish people but the media will get a bashing that they haven’t got since the wrongly reported on the death of Liam Lawlor. Bad night for Ireland but an appalling night for the Lenihan’s. I wish him well and hope that his health recovers.

Permanent TSB shore up Anglo but shaft Anglo shareholders

There’s an old saying “to be sure to be sure” and it’s obviously something that Permanent TSB take seriously. I say this because the bank is now under investigation by the regulator as it has emerged that the Permanent TSB lodged €4B to the Anglo Irish Bank within hours of the government guarantee scheme becoming law. The Government-appointed directors at Anglo Irish are also investigating the deposit, which was lodged prior to the bank's reporting year-end on September 30th. It's understood that the deposits were withdrawn by ILP a week to 10 days later.
The regulator is examining the movement of deposits into the bank around its year-end and whether Anglo Irish Bank artificially propped up deposit around the end of its accounting year in a bid to bolster its financial strength. The news peels back another layer on the charade that Ireland’s financial service sector ahs become. The obvious question is why would Permanent TSB take such a step? Is it further evidence of an old pals act at the top in Irish business? Given that Permanaent TSB is covered by the same government guarantee scheme there was no chance of a run on the bank at the time of the move so why lodge money outside the bank at this stage? Very intersting, I’d love to know why.
What’s certain is that shareholders were not told and it effectively inflated the books and fooled those investors as to the extent of its liquidity. this was a deliberate deception of shareholders as tot he true extent of the banks books, I note that the bank is not advancing the jesuitical defence of the former chairman agaisnt accusations of illegality when he was moving cash in and out in a similar way.
These figures were moving in the front door at years end just as Sean Fitzpatrick was wheeling his traunch in from his warehouse. The reception at the bank must have been a very busy place with the comngs and goings of cash. which begs the same question as with Fitzpatrick's loans which subsequently turned out to be the tip of the iceberg and its this, if this is what we know about Permanent TSB, what else is there to e revealed? Permanent TSB which is broadly a domestic mortgage lender has escaped attention so far but now seems to be firmly in the sights of the regulator.
To make matters more intersting Brian Lenihan has now decided that he’s oing for the bad bank scenario where all toxic debt from across the system will be cleared through one institution. This has come at the end of a week when Bankers saw off the government’s demand for cuts in bonuses and a 2 year moratorium on re-possesions for defaulting mortgage holders due to job losses. At market’s close tomorrow Minister Lenihan is set to announce how he will proceed on market re-capitalisation. As of yet there’s no guarantee that the re-captitalised banks cannot go back to the speculators who lost the money in the first palce rather than provide liquidity to maintain employment. The more the controversy staggers on, the more there is a sense of a minister unable to cope. Is it any wonder small business are closing? There's only one sure thing, send in an inspector or the fraud squad.