A Celtic tiger with a billion-euro tale of woe

TO MANY he is one of the country’s most unpopular men, but Sean FitzPatrick only has to think back a few years to when he was the toast of Ireland’s economy.

Indelibly linked to the rise of the Celtic Tiger, and then its alarming collapse, FitzPatrick rose to prominence at Anglo Irish Bank having first served as chief executive and then as chairman.

FitzPatrick, 62, who now lives in Greystones in Co Wicklow, graduated from University College Dublin and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1972.

Over the years his list of titles and directorships grew. He served as a non-executive director of Gartmore Irish Growth Fund plc, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), Aer Lingus Group plc and Experian Group Ltd. He was also a director of Greencore Group plc, and was president of the Irish Bankers’ Federation.

His stewardship of Anglo was what propelled him into the upper echelons however, beginning when he assumed his role as chief executive at the bank in 1986.

The bank had reported market capitalisation of €5.1bn when he stepped down as chief executive in 2005. He then took over as non-executive chairman, before relinquishing that position in late 2008, by which time the wheels were coming off the economy.

His role at Anglo transformed the bank. However, critics have derided his strategy as one of providing a relatively small number of developers with huge sums of money to build properties that, in many cases, consumers and businesses could not afford in an overheated property market.

His gung-ho recipe for a thriving economy brooked little argument. When Eddie Hobbs tapped into growing anger over “Rip-Off Ireland”, FitzPatrick was quickly out of the traps, declaring in 2005 that Hobbs had an “unbalanced ... perspective on Ireland”, was peddling “nonsense” and that if his words gained a foothold and threatened the health of the economy then RTÉ and the rest of the media should be held accountable.

His own personal fortune rose in line with the Celtic Tiger’s. It was estimated that in 2007 he was worth €90m. However, the nationalisation of Anglo, and the fall in the worth of the shares he had in other banks, saw his personal wealth crumble.

The transformation in his fortunes has been almost as dramatic as the economic crash. When Mr FitzPatrick resigned as chairman of Anglo on December 18, 2008, news of his departure was received “with great regret” by the bank’s board.

Just last week Anglo launched a legal action against FitzPatrick in an attempt to recover unpaid loans of €70m, after he missed a deadline for repayment.

These secret loans had been accumulated over an eight-year period, and at one point were estimated at more than €128m. These transactions were hidden from shareholders and the bank’s board.

His abrasive personality seems to have done him few favours. Just after the bank bailout in 2008, his lack of contrition was on full view when he told Marian Finucane: “The cause of our problems was global so I can’t say sorry with any degree of sincerity and decency but I do say thank you.”

Interviewed in 2006, two years after stepping down as Anglo chief, he was asked if he had any regrets. He replied: “Millions in every part of my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m unhappy.”

Last week’s court move by Anglo and yesterday’s dramatic arrest and questioning might make him alter that view.