No answers, only stony faces and hand-wringing

IF the impression of Anglo Irish Bank was that its board of directors sat around doing nothing while their old chairman ran amok bending rules like a financial Uri Geller, then it only grew stronger yesterday.

For the three hours of the egm, they sat around doing nothing while their new chairman wrung his hands and bent over backwards trying to reassure seething shareholders that everyone assembled at the top table in the Mansion House felt their pain.

The shareholders weren’t convinced. They wanted audible proof of the directors’ collective agonies. A groan, a wail, even a wince would suffice. But none was forthcoming. The group sat stony faced and silent like dummies in a fairground duck shoot relieved that someone forgot to bring the pellets.