No faith that State will ever prosecute bankers

Farmers have no faith in the State’s ability to prosecute anybody for the banking crisis, with over 90% believing not a single banker will see the inside of a prison cell.

The Irish Examiner/ICMSA survey found the negativity was shared almost equally among men and women.

A remarkable 99% of farmers over 65 felt that nobody would be jailed for the banking crisis, compared to 86% of those farmers under the age of 35.

Just one of the eight regions surveyed for the study, Cappamore in Limerick, expressed less than 90% agreement for this view, at 81%.

Earlier this month, it was reported that a former senior executive at Anglo Irish Bank, Matt Moran, had been granted immunity from prosecution arising out of any criminal probes into the bank. Mr Moran was chief financial officer and featured in the ‘Anglo Tapes’ transcripts, which caused outrage during the summer.

The immunity was reportedly granted two years ago before charges were brought against three former Anglo bankers. The trial of former Anglo chairman Seán FitzPatrick, finance director Willie McAteer, and senior executive Pat Whelan is scheduled to begin early next year.

Meanwhile, speaking before engagements at the UN General Assembly in New York, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore reiterated the Government’s call for a public inquiry into the tapes.

Mr Gilmore said the public was “entitled at a minimum” to a banking inquiry in spite of the Central Bank’s decision to resist further action over the recordings of conversations between Anglo executives in and around the 2008 bank guarantee.

“This is the people’s business,” he said. “It’s the people of the country who have suffered as a result of what happened in Irish banking and policy decisions that were made. They’re entitled at a minimum to know what was going on, who was involved in it and to hear what they have to say about it. The inquiry is the right way to go on this.”