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.
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’
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’
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’
Eoghan Harris raised the temperature in the Senate last Thursday morning. He moved the banking story on from the humiliating retreat of Bank of Ireland boss Richie Boucher.
Closing his eyes, speaking with a passion unmatched by anyone in the chamber, Harris let rip at some of Boucher’s boardroom buddies at Bank of Ireland.
He did not fillet the usual suspects. Instead Eoghan insisted that the two government nominees to the board were asleep on duty.
There was hidden bottle in Eoghan’s contribution. He himself was a Taoiseach’s nominee to the Senate so his Fianna Fail patrons must be none too pleased by his constant show of independence. Indeed Eoghan recently abandoned a seat on the government side and emigrated to join us on the independent benches (or, as some less charitable senators have remarked, the Sunday Independent benches).
Continue reading ‘Richie has a Hide Like a Rhino’
EVEN Arthur Morgan was dazzled by Matthew. The former IRA activist, now Sinn Fein TD for Louth, leaned over at the Oireachtas committee last week and whispered words in praise of Matthew Elderfield.
The new Financial Regulator was fielding questions about the banking mayhem.
I have to admit it, I like Arthur. Not my political cup of tea, but a repentant charmer. Despite his charm, the image of Arthur being arrested on Carlingford Lough by the British army back in 1977 is never far away whenever I meet him.
Continue reading ‘Gospel According to Matthew’
SEAN Quinn has been a media recluse for more than a decade. He made rare, stage-managed media appearances in his glory days.
Otherwise we were starved of Sean, led to believe that he was just an ordinary guy who played cards with his old mates Continue reading ‘Anglo Corpse Infects Quinnvalid’
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