Greens 'Believe Cowen's FitzPatrick Statement'

Ireland's Green Party has today given its formal response to last night's statement by Taoiseach Brian Cowen about his contacts with former Anglo Irish Bank Chairman Sean FitzPatrick.

Party Leader John Gormley criticised his coalition partner, Brian Cowen for not disclosing details of his contacts with former Anglo Irish Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Sean FitzPatrick earlier.

However, after a party meeting in Dublin this morning to discuss the weekend revelations that Mr Cowen and Mr FitzPatrick had dinner and played golf just two months before the bank guarantee, Mr Gormley said he had found no evidence of impropriety.

He said: "We believe that the Taoiseach should himself have put these matters into the public domain much earlier.

"The manner in which they have been made public has, unfortunately, given rise to suggestions about inappropriate behaviour."

Mr Gormley also said the Green Party had contacted the Secretary of the Department of Finance and had been assured no representations had been made, but he said "we're not Sherlock Holmes".

However, the Green Party remains committed to passing the Finance Bill and will remain in Government until then.

The party was examining Mr Cowen's rejection of any impropriety and his denouncement of his opponents for drawing 'malicious and unfounded' inferences from his contacts with the former banker.

Brian Cowen issued his statement in the wake of the publication of a new book regarding the former Chairman of the Anglo Irish Bank Sean FitzPatrick which made the news in the Sunday Times newspaper.

It reported that the book contained information regarding contacts between Sean FitzPatrick and Mr Cowen that were not previously known.

The book, by journalists Tom Lyons and Brian Carey, refers to phone contact between Mr FitzPatrick and Mr Cowen in March of 2008 and to a golfing outing attended by both men in July of 2008.

Mr Cowen's statement said: "I want to take this opportunity to utterly refute any suggestions of impropriety on my part arising out of the recent publication of a book about Sean Fitzpatrick.

"I did attend a golf outing in July 2008 organised by a friend Fintan Drury which Mr. Fitzpatrick also attended.

"I am quite clear that no discussions regarding Anglo Irish Bank took place," he said. "It was a social outing in full public view and there was nothing untoward, no hidden or secret agenda and no concessions, favours or interventions requested or granted.

"Certain people are drawing inferences for political and other motives, they are malicious, unfounded and have no basis in fact," he insisted.

"The second issue being discussed is a phone call I took from Mr. Fitzpatrick while in Asia during the St Patrick's Day period of 2008 when I was Minister for Finance.

"This phone call related to concerns Mr. Fitzpatrick had about the market situation in relation to the bank's shares.

"As I confirmed in the Dáil as far back as February 2009, as Minister for Finance, I had been informed by the Governor of the Central Bank in early March 2008, that a situation was developing in regard to the contracts for difference issue in Anglo Irish Bank. The exact scale and detail of the difficulty was not known at that point," Mr Cowen's statement continued.

"Prior to talking to Mr. Fitzpatrick, I spoke with the Governor. Having listened to Mr. Fitzpatrick I told him I would refer the issue to the Governor of the Central Bank. The Central Bank and the Regulator subsequently followed up on the issue at a meeting with Anglo Irish Bank, which I understand, was held in the Central Bank Headquarters on Good Friday the 21st March 2008.

"The continuing attempt to suggest that the Government's approach to the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank was influenced by political or any inappropriate considerations is utterly without foundation."

(BMcC/GK)