The Irish banks are broke - but the bosses are still living high on the hog
Sunday November 08 2009
THE bankers were back in the Burlington. Sunday Independent reporter Niamh Horan was asked to leave before the Institute of Bankers' dinner started. It was a private affair.
Not as private as they would like. Let us tell you who was there. Top bankers were back in the saddle, hosting their regulator. The policeman of the banks, Jim Farrell, adorned the bankers' top table.
A few seats away from him sat Dan O'Connor, chairman of AIB, the bank with an abysmal record of scandals.
On Thursday night, invited guests of the banks shared fine wine and five-star food. Tables of 10 people cost a grand as the cosy oligarchs of Ireland guzzled away at the bankers' expense. It was just like a scene from the book The Bankers.
After smoked salmon and crabmeat, bankers and their guests tucked into baked fillets of halibut followed by barbary duck and seasonal vegetables.
The banks may be broke but the bankers are still living high on the hog.
These are the guys the taxpayer will bail out when the Nama Bill is passed in the Dail this week.
Brian Lenihan, busy promoting the bankers' interests with Nama in the Dail, sent Mary Harney along to deputise for him.
At the top table with the Minister sat all the usual suspects. Tom Noonan of the moribund Ibec took a place of honour, Ireland's top auctioneer Aine Myler rubbed shoulders with none other than Joe Meade -- another policeman of the banking world. Nothing has changed.
Some of the Fellows of the Institute of Bankers proudly listed the appropriate initials FIB after their names in the dinner listings.
- Shane Ross
Sunday Independent
