'Irish blood is boiling – the second instalment'

Sarah McCabe

THE world was watching as day two of the Irish Independent's 'Inside Anglo' investigation unfolded. The Anglo tapes also played out on television stations internationally. The BBC, Channel 4 and Sky News all reported extensively on the Irish Independent's story including live televised interviews with Special Correspondent Paul Williams.

- IN THE UK

The headlines in the newspapers and news programmes - including Sky News and Channel 4 News - of our closest neighbours were damning. 'Dublin reels over bank crisis tape' said 'The Financial Times' in the lead story on the front page of its influential Company and Markets section.

"When the Irish Government first nationalised, later rebranded and finally liquidated Anglo Irish Bank, it might have thought it had closed the book on one of the worst chapters in the country's banking crash," it said in a lengthy analysis.

The paper's straight-talking and renowned Alphaville Blog opted for a more jovial tone: "Irish blood is boiling: the second instalment".

"It's round-two of the Irish Independent's release of the Anglo tapes – the recorded gigglings of Anglo Irish boss David Drumm and a colleague or two during the bailout of Ireland's most borked bank," blogged David Keohane.

'Taped calls stoke anger over Anglo-Irish rescue', said 'The Guardian', giving lots of coverage to Enda Kenny's remarks that "Irish people are entitled to be angry".

- REUTERS AND BLOOMBERG

Both of the world's biggest news wire services, Reuters and Bloomberg, covered the scandal. 'Outrage on rise in Ireland over 'arrogant' failed bank execs' was the headline on Reuters. One of the article's sections was simply titled 'Embarrassing'. Reuters' coverage concluded that despite all the disclosures, many Irish people remain "sceptical that the country's close-knit elite will do what it takes to bring friends of friends to justice".

It finished with the comments of healthcare worker Mary Mullerby (62), who said: "If it was any other country they would have been in prison by now."

Bloomberg focused on John Bowe's rendition of 'Deutschland Uber Alles' in the tapes. 'Ex-Anglo Irish executive sang praises of State and German money', read its headline. The wire service touched upon possible damage to Ireland's bargaining position in Europe. "

- REST OF THE WORLD

'The Wall Street Journal' devoted a lengthy article to the issue.

"The Irish Government is determined to implement new laws to help launch the country's first wide-ranging inquiry into the causes of its banking debt crisis", began its piece. Discussing a possible banking inquiry, the 'Wall Street Journal' noted that Irish voters rejected proposals to give Government extra investigatory powers in 2011, which most other foreign sources did not mention.

In Germany, Der Spiegel carried an article which wrongly stated Anglo executives "insulted customers as 'bloody Germans'."

The article went on to say the discussion between the bank's then boss David Drumm and a senior manager John Bowe "sounds like a discussion that was recorded into a pub."

Elsewhere, some news outlets led with the more unsavoury elements of the tapes. 'Anglo Irish Bank chief picked €7bn bailout plea 'out his a***', reveal secret tapes' read the headline at US-based 'The International Business Times'.

'Cringeworthy audio has Irish bankers joking about bailout that would make regulators change their underwear' read the 'Business Insider Australia'.