Haughey protege is appointed to board of Anglo
Aidan Eames one of the three new directors of Anglo Irish Bank appointed last week, is a strong Fianna Fail supporter and a protege of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey.
Mr Eames has a long history in Fianna Fail dating back to 1982 when Mr Haughey appointed him, a young Sligo solicitor, as the party's national youth organiser.
On his departure from power in late 1982 the former Fianna Fail leader put Mr Eames into the Senate to fill one of the temporarily vacant posts as a Taoiseach's nominee, a position he held for only a few weeks. The brief appointment gave him rights to parking in Leinster House for life.
Mr Eames benefited from further Fianna Fail patronage when he was made a director of Bord Gais by Dermot Ahern in 2004, a position to which he was reappointed last year.
Mr Eames is an old favourite of Taoiseach Brian Cowen who appointed him chair of Agency for Personal Service Overseas (Apso) in 1999. In 2000 his name appeared on a list of those who had given a €750 political donation to Fianna Fail TD Sean Ardagh. In 2004 he acted as election agent for Fianna Fail candidate Eoin Ryan at the European elections when his firm, Eames & Co, gave €700 to Ryan's campaign.
It is understood that the nomination of Mr Eames to the board of the bank did not come from Anglo Irish.
In the press announcement last week no mention was made of Mr Eames' past membership of the Oireachtas nor his long association with Fianna Fail, the party in government. It merely stated that he was a commercial lawyer and managing partner of Eames Solicitors, Dublin.
It went on to say that he is "a director of Bord Gais and chairman of its risk committee. He has served as chairman and board member of a number of private and state enterprises and acts as adviser to leading commercial and technology companies".
- Shane Ross
Originally published in
