Cowen & Fitzpatrick Relationship Questioned

The Opposition parties along with the Green Party are calling on the Irish Taoiseach to give a full account of previously undisclosed contacts with the former Anglo Irish Bank chairman.

Green Party leader John Gormley said he would be discussing the matter with Brian Cowen later today, while both the Labour Party and Fine Gael have called for further details over the disclosures.

A Sunday Times article published yesterday said Mr Cowen (pictured) had two previously undisclosed contacts with Mr FitzPatrick in 2008, during the crucial run up to the imposition of the bank guarantee.

The article precedes a forthcoming book based on 18 recorded interviews with Mr FitzPatrick, covering a number of contacts Mr Cowen had with the former controversial banker just as Anglo was beginning to collapse, plunging the country into unprecedented financial difficulty.

The Taoiseach has already confirmed that he played golf and had dinner with Mr FitzPatrick in July 2008, while still Anglo chairman, prompting Labour Finance Spokesperson Joan Burton to express her "deep concern" at the revelations.

Ms Burton said that during the meetings between Fitzpatrick and the Taoiseach, the share price of the bank fell to such an extent that it became known as the St Patrick's Day Massacre, coinciding with the "undercover purchase" of Anglo shares by the Quinn Family.

Ms Burton said that the Bank's board and senior staff were "instrumental in secret deals and loans" to distribute the Quinn shares among a select group called the Maple 10 - a select group of investors who have also been referred to as the "golden circle".

"The guarantee of late September 2008 to Anglo Irish Bank has been the direct cause of huge losses imposed on Irish citizens running to more than €34 billion to date. The public is entitled to a full account of the Taoiseach's state of knowledge of the true position of the bank's balance sheet in the period before that fateful night," Ms Burton said.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar has said the relationship between Mr FitzPatrick and the Taoiseach was a little bit closer than previously thought.

The Opposition spokesman said Mr Cowen was not forthcoming in the Dáil when party leader Enda Kenny had questioned him over the relationship between the two men. Mr Varadkar added that the latest revelations indicated the Taoiseach "knew a little bit more" about the emerging banking crisis than previously thought.

(DW)