
The Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy (also known as the circular transactions controversy) began in Dublin in December 2008 when
Seán FitzPatrick, the chairman of
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was an Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It began to wind down after nationalisation in 2009. In July 2011 Anglo Irish merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, forming a new company named the Ir ...
(the state's third-largest bank), admitted he had hidden a total of
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
87 million in loans from the bank, triggering a series of incidents which led to the eventual
nationalisation of Anglo on 21 January 2009. FitzPatrick subsequently resigned his position and was followed within twenty-four hours by the bank's non-executive director,
Lar Bradshaw Lar or LAR may refer to:
Places
;India
* Lar, Uttar Pradesh, a town in Deoria District
* Lar, Jammu and Kashmir, Lar (Jammu and Kashmir), a town
* Lata (region), also known as Lar, former region of southern Gujarat
;Iran
* Lar, Iran, a city in Fa ...
and chief executive,
David Drumm
David Kenneth Drumm (born November 1966) is an Irish banking executive. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Irish Bank from 2005 until 2008. In 2018, he was convicted of fraud for actions during his time there related to the Anglo Irish ...
. A new chairman of Anglo, Donal O'Connor, was quickly appointed from the board, a move welcomed by the Irish
Minister for Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
,
Brian Lenihan. A number of investigations have been launched into the reasons behind the three resignations. The
Central Bank of Ireland
The Central Bank of Ireland ( ga, Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland's central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is the country's financial services regulator for most categories of financial fi ...
is carrying out a review of the bank's dealings, although its
Financial Regulator
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be hand ...
,
Patrick Neary
Patrick Michael Neary, C.S.C. (born March 6, 1963) is an American priest of the Catholic Church who serves as Bishop of Saint Cloud in Minnesota. He has worked as a missionary priest in Chile, Kenya and Uganda, held leadership positions in th ...
, has also since resigned his position. So too did a number of other chairmen, directors and executives involved with Anglo,
Irish Life and Permanent
Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc, formerly Irish Life and Permanent plc is a provider of personal financial services in Ireland. Irish Life Assurance plc and the Irish Permanent Building Society merged to form the Irish Life and Permanent Group ...
and
Irish Nationwide
Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...
.
Within days of the initial admission, an announcement was made that Anglo Irish Bank would be one of three (alongside
Allied Irish Bank
Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of general insurance products such as home, trav ...
and
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish ...
) that would be recapitalised by the
Irish government
The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.
The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...
. The recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank was expected to be effected in mid-January 2009, following an
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wou ...
(EGM). Lenihan instead unexpectedly announced the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank the night before the EGM due to difficulties he encountered with the recapitalisation process. Recapitalisations of the other two banks mentioned were expected by the end of March 2009 but, according to
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...
Brian Cowen
Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011.
Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...
, were expected to be finalised in early February 2009 at a total of €7 billion. The nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank on 21 January 2009 followed two more resignations earlier that month. On 7 January 2009, another director,
Willie McAteer
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...
, resigned, becoming the fourth casualty of the controversy. Two days later the Financial Regulator Patrick Neary retired amidst much criticism over his handling of the affair. After the nationalisation, the Chairman of Irish Nationwide, Dr Michael Walsh, resigned on 17 February, one week to the day that government-appointed directors announced they were investigating a deposit of billions of euro by Irish Life and Permanent, placed in Anglo Irish Bank before the end of its financial year.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen denied claims that he was protecting a "
Golden Circle" of wealthy financiers from being identified. This mysterious group of ten businessmen is said to have received loans from Anglo Irish Bank in return for buying shares, in a move designed to keep the bank afloat.
Background
Starting in 1986, Seán "Seanie" FitzPatrick spent eighteen years as chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, during which time the bank grew from a small operator into the third-largest bank in Ireland. When he became the bank's chairman in 2005, handing over the position of chief executive to David Drumm, the bank was recording annual profits of over €500 million. The Anglo share price peaked at €17.60 in May 2007, an increase from under €1 ten years previously. Anglo was valued at nearly €13 billion and FitzPatrick's 4.5 million Anglo shares were worth nearly €80 million at this time. Prior to FitzPatrick's resignation, the Anglo share price had already dropped to €0.32, a drop of 98% with the entire bank valued at a low €242 million and FitzPatrick's stake reduced to €1.5 million.
The Financial Regulator first uncovered the €87 million loans in January 2008 when inspectors from the regulator's offices carried out an inspection into the loan book of rival lender,
Irish Nationwide Building Society
Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...
. The inspectors noticed that a large loan was provided to FitzPatrick at Anglo Irish Bank and later repaid. The Regulator discovered at a later date that similar loans were provided to FitzPatrick in September 2008 and repaid by him in October 2008. When the issue was raised with Anglo Irish Bank it was discovered that there were further loans between the two banks over an extended period of eight years.
It is uncertain which officials, if any, within the bank knew about the loans.
Every Anglo annual report contained a note displaying the total loans given to directors of the bank. This total was measured at a single point in time. In the case of Anglo this occurred on 30 September. FitzPatrick, instead of revealing the true figures of his loans, transferred some of them to
Irish Nationwide Building Society
Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...
, returning them to Anglo at a later date. He acted in a manner that thwarted transparency of Anglo's loan book. Financial authorities investigated if there were breaches of corporate governance. The Chief Executive of the Financial Regulator said that "a lay person would expect that issues of this nature and this magnitude would have been picked up" by the external auditors,
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...
. After receiving legal advice Ernst & Young declined to appear before a parliamentary committee.
This in turn led to inaccurate figures for the total directors' loans given for eight consecutive years in the end of year Anglo accounts. 2008 was the first occasion on which FitzPatrick revealed his true figure, that of €87 million or twice the total of the other twelve directors' loan figures.
The ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet n ...
'' described Anglo Irish as Ireland's
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...
, and said that FitzPatrick would have already been arrested if this had occurred in the United States.
Resignations
Anglo Irish Bank
FitzPatrick issued a statement on the evening of 18 December 2008, linking his resignation with a €87 million loan he had from the bank. Ireland's Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan welcomed the appointment of a new chairman, Donal O'Connor, an official with a substantial commercial track record, saying he "seems a natural choice" for the role. FitzPatrick's resignation came little over two months after he had admitted that his former bank had made mistakes but insisted it had not been "reckless". Alongside FitzPatrick's resignation came that of Bradshaw who had held a loan jointly with FitzPatrick, a loan that was temporarily transferred to another bank prior to a year end audit without the knowledge of Bradshaw. On the evening of 19 December, Drumm announced he would step down with immediate effect, but said he will continue to work with the chairman through a transition phase until a replacement chief executive is agreed upon.
''It is appropriate for me to step down today given last evening's announcement in relation to the resignation of Seán FitzPatrick and given the strong statement of support for the Bank and its recapitalisation programme by the Minister for Finance. Good progress is being made on the recapitalisation. It is undoubtedly in the best interests of Anglo that a new Chief Executive is appointed to lead the Bank through its next phase of development. The appointment of Donal O'Connor as Chairman together with a new Chief Executive augurs well for the Bank and for all its stakeholders. It gives the Bank fresh impetus and an upward trajectory. I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their intense commitment and honest endeavour and for their friendship over the last 15 years.''
On 7 January 2009, Willie McAteer resigned his position as finance director and chief risk officer.
On 15 January 2009 the Government of Ireland nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and its shares were suspended on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges.
On 19 January 2009, the balance of the Board, who had served while FitzPatrick was chairman, resigned. The consequence of Anglo's nationalisation caused steep falls, up to 50%, in the market value of the other two large banks on 19 January 2009.
Financial Regulator
Following reports of a communication breakdown at the office of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the
Financial Regulator
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be hand ...
Patrick Neary on 9 January 2009 announced his decision to retire as of 31 January that year. Neary's weakness in dealing with the issue has received much criticism, with
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...
Senator
Dan Boyle calling for a strengthening of powers within the organisation and saying that confidence in Irish financial services had been eroded by events of the previous six months. Financial observers indicated that a replacement for Neary might have to be located in the United States or in Britain.
There were also reports that the Financial Regulator may have known of the loans for eight years prior to their revelation. The Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton called for the board and senior management of the Financial Regulator to be sacked. The Financial Regulator hired a partner from Ernst & Young, to advise on the €440 billion bank guarantee scheme in January 2009, despite the fact that serious questions have been asked about why Ernst & Young did not spot the massive loans that former chief executive Seán FitzPatrick concealed from his shareholders for eight years. Consultants
Mazars
Mazars is a global audit, accounting and consulting group employing more than 42,000 professionals in more than 90 countries through member firms. With head offices in France, Mazars has a network of correspondent partners and joint ventures in ...
, which reviewed their operations said "that regulatory expertise was lacking in some areas."
Irish Nationwide
On the evening of 17 February 2009, the Chairman of the building society
Irish Nationwide
Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...
, Dr Michael Walsh, resigned his position.
Irish Stock Exchange
On 23 February 2009, the former Anglo Irish Bank director Anne Heraty unexpectedly resigned from the board of the
ISEQ
Euronext Dublin (formerly The Irish Stock Exchange, ISE; ga, Stocmhalartán na hÉireann) is Ireland's main stock exchange, and has been in existence since 1793.
The Euronext Dublin lists debt and fund securities and is used as a European ga ...
.
The following morning, Dublin's ISEQ index fell over 3% to stand at 1,987, a 14-year low.
The last time it stood under the 2,000 level was the middle of 1995.
Dublin Airport Authority
On the evening of 24 February 2009, the chairman of the
Dublin Airport Authority
DAA (styled "daa"), previously Dublin Airport Authority, is a commercial semi-state airport company in Ireland. The company owns and operates Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. Its other subsidiaries include the travel retail business Aer Ria ...
(DAA),
Gary McGann
Gary McGann (born August 1950) is an Irish accountant, the chairman of Flutter Entertainment, and former CEO of Smurfit Kappa and Aer Lingus.
Education
McGann earned a bachelor's degree from University College Dublin and also an MSc in manage ...
, announced his decision to step down from the board, stating that his decision had been influenced by his former non-executive directorship of Anglo Irish Bank.
Outcome and nationalisation
Anglo Irish Bank has said it would review its policy on directors' loans following FitzPatrick's resignation. The
Financial Regulator
Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be hand ...
announced he would be examining the loans issued by Anglo Irish Bank to all its directors, claiming he became aware of the existence of the loans "following an inspection earlier this year". Ultimately he became a victim of the controversy and subsequently announced his retirement.
The
Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board Chartered may refer to:
* Charter, a legal document conferring rights or privileges
** University charter
** Chartered company
* Chartered (professional), a professional credential
* Charter (shipping)
* Charter (airlines)
* Charter (typeface)
...
(CARB) undertook an investigation into the "circumstances around the issue of inappropriate directors' loans at Anglo Irish"and into the performance of Ernst and Young. The
Irish Association of Investment Managers
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
expressed how it was "surprised and disappointed" at the controversy and announced it would be writing to Anglo's new chairman to describe its worries.
The Irish State subsequently announced it was to become the majority shareholder in Anglo Irish Bank by injecting €3 billion into the bank. Opposition party
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...
opposed this move and stated on 14 January 2009 that the bank should be shut down but the following evening the Irish government announced that recapitalisation was no longer a serious option and nationalised the bank instead. Lenihan stated that "clear blue water" had been inserted between the old and new versions of Anglo and defended the nationalisation by saying that if the government were to let the bank fail it would be saying to Ireland and other economies that the country was "closed for business". At an Emergency General Meeting held at the
Mansion House
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property la ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
on 16 January 2009, the bank's shareholders angrily voiced their opinions on FitzPatrick's involvement in the bank's downfall and their lack of confidence in the banking sector. The auditors, Ernst & Young were also criticised for failing to detect the loans during their audits. At the EGM the total level of loans to directors was announced as €179 million.
Legislation
Emergency legislation to nationalise the bank, titled the
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Bill 2009
The Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Act 2009 is a piece of emergency legislation composed by the Irish government in January 2009. The Act provides for the emergency nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank which had been subject to a controversy regard ...
, was voted through
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland r ...
, being approved by 79 – 67 before passing in
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann (, ; " Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house).
It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its ...
without a vote on 20 January 2009. During the Seanad's debate on the bill, Senator
Shane Ross
Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 20 ...
claimed that "no-one was being told the truth about Anglo Irish Bank" and called the EGM of the previous Friday "a disgrace show
ngcorporate Ireland at its worst, as there were no answers to any questions". Senator
Joe O'Toole
Joseph John O'Toole (born 20 July 1947) is a former Irish independent politician, who was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1987 to 2011.
He was born and brought up in Dingle, County Kerry, O'Toole was a teacher for ten years and then a school p ...
advocated the chasing of those responsible for the bank's nationalisation "even into the courts", saying that a person could be imprisoned for failure to pay a household bill, yet those who caused the loss of jobs and pensions might not. President Mary McAleese then signed the Anglo Irish Bank Bill at Áras an Uachtaráin the following day.
Discussion
The bank's internal auditors appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs on 3 February 2009 to discuss the nationalisation of
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was an Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It began to wind down after nationalisation in 2009. In July 2011 Anglo Irish merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, forming a new company named the Ir ...
. The bank's head of internal audit, Walter Tyrrell, told the Oireachtas committee that the movement of loans by Seán FitzPatrick into the bank and back out again could only have been known by FitzPatrick himself and the executive of his account, claiming that loans were tested by means of random sampling and that FitzPatrick's loans had not once been selected – however one loan he held with a partner was chosen. Fine Gael's
Kieran O'Donnell expressed his amazement that each of the directors' loans were not tested.
On 11 February 2009, Lenihan revealed plans under which €3.5 billion ($4.5 billion, £3.1 billion) each would be provided by the government's purchase of
options intended to re-capitalise Allied Irish Bank and the Bank of Ireland.
Findings
Review
The Financial Regulator, on the recommendation of the Irish Finance Minister, ordered an "urgent review" of directors' loans at Anglo Irish Bank, saying it has a "very serious view" of the issue. It claimed the loans were "first brought to its attention on December 17th 2008" and that a committee had been established to investigate the matter. Irish
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin said the Financial Regulator had "serious questions" to answer over its supposed lack of knowledge of the loans and the Irish
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley
John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...
asked the Financial Regulator to explain what he termed "extraordinary complacency" in relation to the situation at Anglo Irish Bank. The opposition party
Fine Gael
Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...
's deputy leader and finance representative
Richard Bruton
Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North since 2016, and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He is the Chairman of the ...
quizzed the Minister for Finance on his announcement that he would provide the necessary capital to Anglo Irish Bank.
Further Hidden Loans (Deposits) Controversy Involving Irish Life & Permanent
On 12 February 2009, details of a further controversial transaction which had the effect of misrepresenting the end-of-year accounts of Anglo-Irish Bank came into the public domain. Anglo-Irish Bank lent €4bn to Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) for 1 day by way of inter-bank loan, and a subsidiary of Irish Life placed a deposit of a similar amount with Anglo, which was recorded as a customer deposit. Following a discussion with the Minister for Finance, a board meeting of IL&P accepted the resignation of two senior IL&P executives.
The "Golden Circle"
On 17 February, Taoiseach Brian Cowen informed Dáil Éireann of his knowledge of a group of ten wealthy businessmen who had come together to buy shares in Anglo Irish Bank in 2008 in a transaction which is now at the centre of an investigation by the Office of Corporate Enforcement. Cowen has since denied suggestions put forth by the Opposition that he was attempting to protect anyone involved in this so-called "Golden Circle". The mystery has been discussed in Dáil Éireann since its revelation, with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...
leader
John Gormley
John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...
calling for the names to be made public if a legal way of doing so could be found.
Anglo Irish Bank's annual report alongside the PricewaterhouseCooper report on the bank were both published on 20 February but
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Ta ...
Mary Coughlan stated beforehand that the ten would not be named in either report.
The Anglo report revealed that the bank lent €451 million to the ten "Golden Circle" clients, a 50% increase on previous estimates of €300 million.
That same evening, Brian Lenihan also issued a statement containing extracts from the report carried out by PricewaterhouseCooper for the Financial Regulator.
The morning before its publication,
Ulick McEvaddy
Ulick McEvaddy, a former Irish army officer and native of Swinford County Mayo.
In 1984, along with his brother Desmond McEvaddy, he established Omega Air Inc; a Washington-based US Corporation that specialises in the sale and lease of aircraft. ...
appeared on
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926.
The total budget for th ...
alongside the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
's
Joe Higgins, where he stated that the ten were "heroes" in his opinion (Joe Higgins disagreed).
''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...
'' published the names of four of the Golden Circle members on 22 February.
The four members of the elite are
Gerry Gannon,
Joe O'Reilly
Joe O'Reilly (born 1 April 1955) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann since August 2020. He has served as a Senator for the Labour Panel since April 2016, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for ...
, Seamus Ross and
Jerry Conlan
Jerry may refer to:
Animals
* Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National
* Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian film ...
. The same article declared that
Sean Mulryan
Sean Mulryan (born September 1954) is an Irish property developer, and the founder and chairman and CEO of the Ballymore Group, a Dublin-based international property development company. He was named on the ''Estates Gazette'' 2017 'Power List' ...
, Patrick Doherty,
Sean Dunne,
Derek Quinlan
Derek M Quinlan (born 4 November 1947) is an Irish businessman prominent in the field of real estate investment and development. A former tax inspector at the Irish Revenue Commission, he formed investment syndicates with high-net-worth individ ...
,
Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...
,
JP McManus
John Patrick McManus (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner. His career lasted from the 1980s to the 2010s. He was one of the biggest shareholders of Manchester United, until his stake was bought out by Malcolm Glazer ...
,
John Magnier
John Magnier (born 10 February 1948; also known as "The Boss") is an Irish business magnate. He is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry.
Magnier has also been a Sena ...
,
Noel Smyth
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
*Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
*Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
*1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, British ...
,
Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan (born 29 June 1950) is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has pursued a fine art career, ...
,
Jim Mansfield
James Mansfield, Sr. (9 April 1939 – 29 January 2014) was an Irish property developer and millionaire with a property portfolio that included the Citywest Hotel and Golf Resort, several developments local to the Saggart, Citywest and Tallagh ...
, Richard Barrett,
Johnny Ronan
John Ronan is an Irish businessman and property developer known for establishing Treasury Holdings in 1989 along with Richard Barrett.
Following the Irish property crash in 2008, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) took over the loans ...
and
Fintan Drury Fintan is an Irish given name. In Irish mythology, Fintan mac Bóchra is said to be the sole survivor of the Great Flood on the island of Ireland, subsequently becoming a personification of old age and knowledge. As a shapeshifter, he appears to b ...
were not among the chosen ten.
Minister
Dick Roche
Richard Eoin Roche (born 30 March 1947) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister of State for European Affairs from 2002 to 2004 and 2007 to 2011 and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 200 ...
has since stated that the ten cannot be named.
On 23 July 2012 the Irish Independent identified the ten members of the golden circle as Belfast-born developer Paddy McKillen, Mennolly Homes's Seamus Ross, auctioneer Brian O'Farrell, John McCabe of McCabe Builders, developer Gerry Maguire, Belfast's Patrick Kearney, Gerry Gannon of Gannon Homes who had a stake in the K Club Ryder Cup golf resort, Kildare businessman Jerry Conlan, Sean Reilly of the McGarrell Reilly firm and developer Joe O'Reilly.
Fraud search
On 24 February 2009, members of the
Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB; formerly Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation/GBFI) – informally known as the ''Fraud Squad'' – is a specialised division of Ireland's national police force, the Garda Síochána, that investi ...
executed a
District Court warrant at the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank on
St Stephen's Green
St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
. The warrant, issued the previous day, allowed the Gardaí, acting on behalf of the Office of the
Director of Corporate Enforcement
The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) is the competent authority in Ireland for the general promotion of compliance with the Companies Acts, the investigation of breaches of the Companies Acts and the taking of any necessary enforcement act ...
, to enter the premises and seize documents that may show crimes committed under section 20 of the Companies' Acts.
See also
*
List of Irish companies
This is a list of notable companies based in Ireland, or subsidiaries according to their sector. It includes companies from the entire island. The state of the Republic of Ireland covers five-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of th ...
*
FÁS expenses scandal
The FÁS expenses scandal happened in Ireland in November/December 2008. Significant public and political outcry was roused, and at least one senior figure of a government organisation resigned. The scandal first emerged in June 2008 when Dáil É ...
*
Enten controversy
The Enten controversy involved Kazutsugi Nami, the chairman of Tokyo bedding supplier Ladies & Gentlemen (L&G), arrested by Japanese police on 5 February 2009. He and twenty-one other executives were accused of defrauding 37,000 investors of at l ...
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Put on the green jersey
'Put on the green jersey' is a phrase to represent putting the Irish national interest first. The phrase can be used in a positive sense, for example evoking feelings of national unity during times of crisis. The phrase can also be used in a negat ...
References
External links
Anglo Irish BankFinancial Regulatoron
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926.
The total budget for th ...
– 20 February 2009
{{2008 economic crisis, state=collapsed
Post-2008 Irish economic downturn
2008 in Irish politics
2009 in Irish politics
Accounting scandals
Banking in Ireland
Financial regulation
Anglo Irish Bank
Banking controversies