Dukes takes a swipe at opposition politicians over attitudes to Anglo

THE incoming chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Alan Dukes has said a “great deal of nonsense” has been spoken by those offering solutions to the crisis at the bank.

He accused Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Richard Bruton and Labour’s Joan Burton of being part of “the national psychosis” that has surrounded the debate for the past few months and said shutting the bank would cost the taxpayer more in the long run. Their stance was described by a friend “as a position of competitive indignation”, he said.

They have highlighted the growing cost to the taxpayer of keeping Anglo going – that figure currently stands at a massive €22 billion. In his address to the annual lunch of ISME, which represents small and medium businesses in Ireland, Mr Dukes stressed once again that shutting down the bank would cost the country more in the long run. In early 2009 the new directors were “given a very clear mandate to sort out the bank in the public interest”.