State will ‘vigorously pursue’ Anglo debts

THE Government has insisted it will “vigorously pursue” ex-directors of Anglo Irish Bank who owe more than €155m to the institution – even though Anglo’s new management believes the bulk of the money will never be repaid.

On the day that Anglo was dubbed a “Celtic Chernobyl”, the Government again came under sustained criticism for bailing out the bank, a rescue which could cost the state up to €40bn.

Anglo management has made provision to write off €109m of the €155m owed to the bank by ex-directors. This includes potentially writing off almost €68m of the €85m owed by former chairman Sean FitzPatrick.