- NEWS
Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
- WORLD
Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
- BUSINESS
Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
- SPORT
Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
- LIFESTYLE
What Lenny did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Clothes maketh you madTrying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
14-17C
Breaking stories
Seánie: From bailouts to bail bonds
Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive and chairman Seán FitzPatrick could be facing further criminal prosecutions in addition to the 16 charges he was handed down before the Dublin District Court yesterday.
By Seán McCárthaigh
As some of 110 lever arch files provided to the DPP were only delivered in recent weeks, it is expected any decision on whether to press further criminal charges against Mr FitzPatrick and other senior Anglo executives, including former chief executive David Drumm, will take some time. The 64-year-old bank- rupt has become the latest and most high-profile banker to face criminal charges arising out of the long-running investigation into financial irregularities at the zombie bank which he effectively ran for 22 years until he resigned in Dec 2008.
Mr FitzPatrick was charged with authorising illegal loans to 16 individuals designed to prop up Anglo’s ailing share price in Jul 2008. They are identical charges to those issued against his former colleagues, Anglo’s finance director Willie McAteer and managing director of its Irish lending operations, Pat Whelan.
Under the legislation, each charge carries a maximum jail sentence of five years and/or a maximum fine of €3,174.
Mr FitzPatrick is facing charges which involve providing loans to six members of the family of bankrupt Seán Quinn and a group of 10 wealthy businessmen and developers collectively known as the “Maple 10”.
However, they relate to just one of five strands of the joint investigation being conducted by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda fraud squad.
Lawyers for the ODCE told the High Court that the three-and-a-half-year investigation into the collapse of Anglo was effectively complete in all but one of the five areas.
Supt Eamonn Keogh of the ODCE said he believed there was now enough information before the DPP to decide whether charges should be brought on the various aspects of the probe.
They include the “warehousing” of certain loans to Anglo directors by Irish Nationwide Building Society, the use of €7.2bn back-to-back deposits which Anglo arranged with Irish Life & Permanent, a €8.25m loan to Mr McAteer, and the provision of possible false and misleading information in public statements by Anglo in breach of EU transparency directives.
Mr FitzPatrick was remanded on his own bail of €1,000 and an independent surety of €10,000 provided by his sister on the basis that he resides at his usual address at Camaderry, Whitshed Rd, Greystones, Co Wicklow.
He must also give gardaí 48 hours’ notice if he intends to travel abroad, and is also required to sign on at Irishtown Garda Station once a week.
He and his co-accused, Mr McAteer and Mr Whelan, are due to appear before the Dublin District Court again on Oct 8 for the serving of the book of evidence. However, all three will face trial on the direction of the DPP before a judge and jury at Circuit Court level in a reflection of the seriousness of the charges.