Anglo Irish Bank trial - Landmark verdicts a triumph

Deep-seated fears in the public mind, verging almost on suspicion, that bankers would ‘get away with it’ after being directly involved in the kind of financial crisis which brought this country to its knees, have finally been dispelled.

Two landmark verdicts have served to restore public confidence in both the judiciary and the legal process. Firstly, the acquittal on Wednesday of the former non-executive chairman of Anglo Irish Bank chairman, Seán FitzPatrick, who was found not guilty on all 10 charges brought against him. That his hands were found to be clean illustrates the objective nature of the judgement despite the fact that he was the self-described public face of the very bank synonymous with Ireland’s fiscal collapse.

An understandable sense of hope in the public mind was fulfilled yesterday when guilty verdicts were brought against two executive directors of the bank, Pat Whelan, the former head of lending in Ireland, and William McAteer, its former finance director.