‘Arrogant’ bankers caught on tape spark outrage in Ireland
Published on Tue Jun 25 2013
DUBLIN- Ireland’s deputy prime minister on Tuesday laid in to “arrogant” executives at a failed bank who mocked government efforts to tackle an economic crisis, amid growing public outrage at the latest revelations in tapes of bank executive phone calls.
The revelations were seen as potentially damaging to Ireland’s efforts to obtain concessions from the European Union on the terms of a bank rescue that pushed it to an 85-billion-euro ($111 billion) bailout.
In the tapes published by the Irish Independent newspaper, the collapsed Anglo Irish Bank’s then-head of capital markets John Bowe was asked how it had come up with a figure of 7 billion euros for a rescue, responding that he had “picked it out of my arse.”
The bank eventually cost taxpayers some 30 billion euros during the financial crisis, almost one-fifth of the country’s annual output, and three former executives—not including Bowe—will go on trial next year on fraud charges.
“I mean the degree of arrogance, the degree of hubris, the degree of couldn’t-care-less-about-the-taxpayer, about the Irish people, that seemed to be part and parcel of the culture of that bank,” deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore said.
In Dublin, the story dominated television and radio news for a second day, with almost all national papers splashing the story on their front pages. “How come nobody’s in jail?” read the lead headline in the Irish Sun.
The Irish Independent released more details including Bowe singing the German national anthem and laughing as he discussed the prospect of German money flowing in after the guarantee on deposits.
“There is a lot of latent anger about this issue,” said Eoin O’Malley, a lecturer in politics at Dublin City University. “Most of us must have known—but now you can hear them commenting and you can hear the tone.”
Many Irish have had their salaries cut by 20 per cent or more in order to meet fiscal deficit targets as part of the loan guarantees for the country’s international bailout.
The unemployment rate has trebled since the crisis to 14 per cent after the bank-and-land speculation property bubble burst. The 2008 blanket guarantee on bank liabilities led to an 85 billion euro IMF/EU bailout and provoked widespread anger in the country of 4.6 million.
“These guys in the banks lose billions and nothing ever happens,” said Noel Newman, a 78-year-old retiree in Dublin. “On the tape they were laughing, joking. The way they said it was disgusting. Unbelievable.”
‘Arrogant’ bankers caught on tape spark outrage in Ireland | Toronto Star < MORE
