Lenihan accuses Boyle of defamation

The Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has accused the Green Party Senator Dan Boyle of defaming him by claiming Fianna Fáil were reluctant to bring rogue bankers to account.

Mr Boyle has accused in a statement on his website (link below) Mr Lenihan of taking Irish Nationwide's side during the controversy over the €1m bonus payment to its former chief Michael Fingleton.

The Green Senator said he recieved a phone call from Mr Lenihan in 2009 in which the Finance Minister urged him to stop criticising the building society.

But today Brian Lenihan said he was acting on the advice of public interest directors at the society and he accused Dan Boyle of publically defaming him.

Mr Lenihan said: "I am annoyed by his comments because he suggests in the last paragraph of his statement of outright defamation that I was kow-towing to private interests in a confused way. He doesn't seem to understand the basic fact that two of the directors were acting in the public interest reporting to me from the board of the society.

"I think once you have that fact at the back of your mind it puts a completely different colour on to this statement."