Category: Irish Politics

  • Sean FitzPatrick's loans

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] The Independent leads tomorrow with a story about €100m in outstanding loans on which former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick is apparently not paying interest. That’s an interest bill of €400,000 a month, but no repayments are being made. This actually partly relates to my story the other day about…

  • Reports prepared for NAMA

    Some time ago I sought the following information from the Department of Finance: 1) The titles, dates and authors of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports that have been carried out by the Department in relation to NAMA 2) The titles, dates and authors of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports…

  • Some questions for Mr Lenihan

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] The Daily Mail and Sunday Times have commented already on Lenihan’s diary as published here last week. The Daily Mail concentrated on the meeting with Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone on November 12, 2008. The Sunday Times was more concerned with all the constituency work Mr Lenihan was doing when he perhaps…

  • Anglo Irish Bank (Part 1)

    The first in a multipart series looking at the companies and subsidiaries of Anglo Irish Bank, now a State-owned entity. Happily the series almost coincides with the first anniversary of the bank guarantee announcement. Onto the details: First up is Anglo-Irish Bank (Nominees) Ltd. Second a definition: A nominee company is a company formed by…

  • What did we buy?

    For two weeks now I’ve been trawling the companies wholly owned, or party owned, by Anglo Irish Bank. It’s tough going. I plan to tabulate all the information so people can see just what was nationalised, and just what we now own. I’ve already found some curious connections, curious companies, and some newsworthy items. Shall…

  • Mary Coughlan's talking points

    [cross posted to thestory.ie) Last month I sent the following Freedom of Information request: FOI Unit Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, August 13, 2009 Request for access to records under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 Dear Sir/Madam, In accordance with Section 7 of the above mentioned act,…

  • Finance briefing documents

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] As part of my FOI request seeking the diary of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, I also sought briefing documents used by himself and the Department’s Secretary General David Doyle. My request asked for: 1. The diary of the Minister for Finance (dates given) 2. Briefing notes prepared for the Minister for…

  • Liam Carroll's web of companies

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] I’ve made a stab at tracking the web of companies that fall under the various Morston Investments companies. There are a number of curious facts about these companies, clues of which can be found in some of the locations and names of companies. The number after each company name is my…

  • Liam Carroll's complex web

    There has been much talk in recent months of Liam Carroll’s ‘complex web’ of companies, which all seem to owe each other money. Take one down, it has been said, and they all fall. But no one has yet tried to construct exactly what this web looks like. I think I’ll have a go. It…

  • Morris Tribunal website FOI

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] I have blogged previously about my request for information concerning the Morris Tribunal website, and its disappearance earlier this year. I noticed that since my FOI was submitted, the Morris Tribunal website had reappeared. It seems this was as a result of my request. To recap: I submitted the following request…