I'm not part of 'golden circle', says Cowen pal
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A CLOSE friend of Taoiseach Brian Cowen and former director of Anglo Irish Bank last night denied he was one of the 'golden circle' investors who secretly bought up a 10pc stake in the crisis-hit lender.
Businessman Fintan Drury has been at the centre of speculation over the identity of the 10 investors who bought €300m worth of shares in the bank with money loaned by the institution itself.
But last night Mr Drury, a close confidante of the Taoiseach, said he is not involved.
"I am not one of the 10," he told the Irish Independent.
The former journalist and multimillionaire sports events organiser said he was deeply frustrated and very angry at the whispering campaign led by politicians in Leinster House.
Rumours
Rumours about Mr Drury and the loans-for-shares scandal mushroomed because of his long and close relationship with Mr Cowen and his association with Anglo Irish bank.
Mr Drury's denial came after a day when politicians from both sides of Leinster House swapped names and some even carried written lists of 'golden circle' suspects.
But after vehemently denying any knowledge of the so-called golden circle's €300m loan for shares, Mr Drury declined to be drawn into any further discussion on the scandal. He stood down as a non-executive director of Anglo five weeks ago after his close friend Mr Cowen became Taoiseach in May 2008, and has acted as an unpaid adviser to him.
The two men became friends when they studied at University College, Dublin, and have remained close over the past 30 years.
After becoming a journalist, he presented 'Morning Ireland' on RTE, before leaving in 1988 to set up his own communications company that was sold for €8.25m in 2000.
In 2003, Mr Drury became chairman of bookmakers Paddy Power. He was appointed chairman of the RTE Authority two years later.
He resigned that post in 2006, when his company, Platinum One, had a possible conflict when it organised the Ryder Cup golf tournament at the K Club.
Mr Drury concentrated on sports management after representing Republic of Ireland soccer stars in negotiating bonuses after they qualified for the World Cup.
His business clients range from Manchester United players to rugby international Gordon D'Arcy.
Mr Drury (50) is married, with four children. After being educated at Blackrock College, he took an MA in Politics from UCD. Mr Cowen also attended UCD, where the men became friends.
Mr Drury was a member of the board of Anglo when Mr Cowen met the Anglo directors on the night of April 24 last, when he was Taoiseach-in-waiting.
At the time, Mr Drury was chairman of the bank's risk-assessment committee but Mr Cowen says he did not learn further details of an "overhang" to do with Anglo shares caused by aggressive stake-building through contracts for difference (CFDs) by tycoon Sean Quinn.
Mr Cowen has insisted that while he was aware of "corporate governance issues" at Anglo Irish Bank at the time, he was not aware of the precise details -- only that the Financial Regulator was in urgent contact with Anglo on the matter.
The accession of Mr Cowen to the office of Taoiseach on May 6 was followed on June 13 by the announcement that his friend, Mr Drury, would retire as a non-executive director of Anglo on June 27. The following month saw the resolution of the Anglo "overhang" through the formation of the golden circle.
- Sam Smyth
