Lenihan welcomes IL&P chief’s ‘decision to resign’

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan issued a short statement last night welcoming Denis Casey’s resignation after effectively forcing the Irish Life & Permanent chief executive to step down.

“[On Thursday] I stated the board of Irish Life and Permanent must discharge its responsibilities in relation to the serious matters that have arisen,” Mr Lenihan said.

“I welcome Mr Casey’s decision to resign from his position in the group. This is an essential first step in repairing the reputational damage done to the Irish financial system.”

The resignation drew a line under an extraordinary 24 hours in which the board of IL&P had initially rejected the Government’s demand for heads to roll.

On Thursday morning, Mr Lenihan had summoned Mr Casey and IL&P chairwoman Gillian Bowler to a meeting at Government Buildings to discuss the bank’s controversial transactions with Anglo Irish Bank.

The meeting took place in the afternoon, with Mr Lenihan making clear his “concerns” about the issue.

Also that afternoon, Green Party leader and Government minister John Gormley told the Dáil that the controversy involving IL&P and Anglo “will result in further resignations”.

Shortly after 6pm, Mr Lenihan, knowing that the IL&P board was meeting that night, made clear his own expectations when he said on RTÉ News: “These are serious matters and I would expect the board to do their duty.”

The IL&P board meeting continued into the early hours of yesterday morning.

The board accepted the resignation of group finance director Peter Fitzpatrick and head of group treasury David Gantly. But it stunned the Government by refusing to accept an offer of resignation by Mr Casey.

Yesterday morning, Mr Lenihan summoned chairwoman Gillian Bowler to another afternoon meeting at Government Buildings.

By doing so, he was making it perfectly clear that he wanted Mr Casey gone. Before the meeting took place, the IL&P board considered the matter again and this time accepted Mr Casey’s resignation.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the IL&P board was simply “bowing to the inevitable”.

But some politicians believe Mr Casey’s resignation is not enough. &

Fianna Fáil TD, Noel O’Flynn, called for the Garda fraud squad and the Revenue Commissioners to begin their own investigations of the various controversies in the banking sector.