Independent TCD senator Shane Ross
NOW that a stake has been driven through Seanie’s heart, what will be his legacy? How will he rank in the pantheon of great Irish bankers?
Well, he was unique. No Irish banker has ever behaved more recklessly than Seanie Fitz. First he put Anglo Irish Bank, next himself, and finally the nation, at risk of financial oblivion.
Some legacy.
WHICH finance minister said: “I was completely against it. The last thing you need is a State-owned bank, because it will end up with every lame-duck, politically attractive proposition being brought to it for finance.
“The more the State owns of it, the less it will be possible to refuse. That’s a complete horror story in my book.”
Charlie McCreevy? Albert Reynolds? Brian Lenihan?
Continue reading ‘Alan’s Little Bank of Horrors’
I spoke in the Seanad this week on the Statements on the Regling and Watson Banking Reports. If these reports tell us anything, it is that the financial collapse was a home grown problem. The crisis may have been triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers but it was created by the property bubble in Ireland and reckless fiscal extravagance.
Below are some excerpts from my speech in the Seanad.
Continue reading ‘Bankers & Department of Finance Must be Held Accountable’
THE brightest of Ireland’s civil servants, James Hamilton, sounded a bit grumpy on RTE’s The Week in Politics three weeks ago.
The Director of Public Prosecutions was making a rare public appearance, bemoaning the nation’s relaxed attitude to protecting whistleblowers. He even suggested that lack of legal protection for whistleblowers meant fewer witnesses in court.
Fewer witnesses means fewer convictions; fewer convictions mean more white-collar criminals.
Continue reading ‘Whistleblower Bill Buried’
THE scene: Anglo Irish Bank HQ, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. Location: The Sean FitzPatrick Memorial Room for Humble Bankers.
Interviewers: Outgoing Anglo Irish Bank chairman Donal O’Connor and current director Maurice Keane (ex-Bank of Ireland)
Interviewee: Gary Kennedy (ex-finance director AIB)
Vacancy: A seat on the board of Anglo
Continue reading ‘Ex-AIB Insider Lands at Anglo’
NOT a good week for the NEDs.
The NEDs ?
Yes, the NEDs.
First, the Bank of Ireland hid its NEDs from its shareholders.
Then CIE hid its NEDs from the public.
NEDS are the best buried bodies in Ireland.
Continue reading ‘CIE no-shows Should be Fired’
WHAT a great week for Ireland. Our nemesis, the credit rating agencies, are beating a retreat; the British Tories have been forced to form a coalition government; Cameron and Clegg are going to follow us down the road of pain and penance; the two happy UK victors are 18 months behind us. And we know they will not look quite so happy in four weeks.
Not a bad feeling.
The rest of Europe is in the manure business, too. Yippee.
Ten days ago, the euro was on the eve of destruction.
Continue reading ‘No Wonder Merkel’s Angry’
THEY all bear neutral names, like ‘Moody’s,’ ‘Standard & Poor’s’ and ‘Fitch’. Such soothing sounds disguise fiendish power. So far this year the dreaded global ratings agencies seem to have flown below the Irish radar. Probably because they have been nursing self-inflicted wounds.
Last year they managed to perform a feat almost unparalleled in Irish politics. They united Fianna Fail’s Brian Lenihan and Labour’s Joan Burton against them.
Continue reading ‘Credit Ratings Agencies Playing God’
Last Wednesday I set out for the AIB agm. The shareholders were mostly the usual pensioners, battered by the hardship inflicted on them by the bank they once trusted.
Nothing had changed on Wednesday, although AIB chairman Dan O’Connor is far softer on the surface than his predecessor Dermot Gleeson. First he listens with concern to the small shareholders. Then he rams the resolutions down their throats with his proxies.
Continue reading ‘AIB Wimps and Cute Hoors’
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