The Anglo Irish 10

Update: The confirmed so far list is:

Paddy McKillen
Gerry Gannon
Jerry Conlan
Joe O’Reilly
Seamus Ross
John McCabe, builder.
Patrick Kearney, developer.
Paddy Mc Killen, investor.
Brian O’Farrell, developer and auctioneer.
Gerry Maguire, developer.
Sean Reilly, builder.

If I were inclined to discover who the people behind the €300m loan and investment in Anglo Irish shares were, I would take a close look at the books.

It is highly likely that anyone involved in this tight inner circle were well connected, and would have perhaps been approached by Sean FitzPatrick himself, that is, people he knew or was friends with. The Independent articles from a few weeks ago points to a who’s who of Irish developers, any number of whom could be on the list, emphasis mine:

A cursory examination of the names held in the filing cabinets at Anglo’s headquarters in Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green reads like a who’s who of the heroes of Ireland’s boom years. Many of the individuals with whom Sean FitzPatrick built business and personal relationships will be well known to the Minister for Finance already — and to his predecessor in the office, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, given the close ties between the building industry and Fianna Fail over the years.

Sean Mulryan, Bernard McNamara, Johnny Ronan, Gerry Gannon and Seamus Ross represent just five heavyweight developers — and acknowledged Fianna Fail supporters — on Anglo’s loan books.

Other big names less readily associated with the Governing political party include former Revenue official turned property dealmaker, Derek Quinlan, developer Paddy Kelly, aviation entrepreneur Ulick McEvaddy, and Riverdance creators, John McColgan and Moya Doherty.

Scattered among this streak of Celtic tigers are billions of euro loaned by Anglo Irish Bank over the past decade in a calculated play for lucrative returns.

Indeed, in the case of Sean Mulryan alone, Anglo is understood to have extended loan facilities to the tune of €1bn to finance the Ballymore Properties chief’s ventures in Ireland and in the East End of London.

Bernard McNamara is another major developer with hundreds of millions of euro in borrowings through Anglo on developments both here and in the UK.

Arguably the most high profile of the Clare-born builder’s plans, where Anglo Irish Bank money is involved, is the former Irish Glass Bottles site in Dublin’s Ringsend.

Here, McNamara has a 41 per cent stake in a tri-party consortium along with Derek Quinlan’s Quinlan Private and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA).

Of course I don’t know if any of these people were involved, but at least some of them would have likely been approached given their relationship with FitzPatrick.

There was more indications today (February 19). The Indo ran with a story about a dinner held in April with Anglo execs, including this nugget:

Mr Cowen was Finance Minister at the time and was told only weeks before about problems at the bank with the shareholding of multi-millionaire businessman, Sean Quinn.

He met the Anglo bankers on the night of April 24 last when he was already Taoiseach-in-waiting and when his close friend, Fintan Drury, was a member of Anglo’s board, chairing its risks and compliance committee.

The plot thickens. The Government is making a massive error by not going public with all the names as soon as possible. From a PR point of view it is almost suicidal. The truth will out eventually, and the way things are being handled it could easily bring down the Government.

Update: The confirmed so far list is:

Paddy McKillen
Gerry Gannon
Jerry Conlan
Joe O’Reilly
Seamus Ross