Somers denies claim he was told to prop up Anglo

FORMER NTMA boss Michael Somers has insisted Brian Cowen did not direct him to deposit large volumes of money with Anglo Irish Bank in a bid to shore up the troubled bank prior to its collapse.

But Mr Somers admitted that the NTMA did come under pressure from the Government and Central Bank officials to “don the green jersey” and help Irish banks generally in late 2007 when they were having problems.

As a result, he took the extraordinary step of seeking independent legal advice to see if the officials were effectively ordering him to do something that breached his duties. He was advised by senior counsel that it wasn’t the NTMA’s role to help the banks in such a fashion, and as a result, Mr Somers told the Department of Finance that he would do so only if he received a written order from the minister.