Silence from Government on death of Sean FitzPatrick tells its own story

Sean FitzPatrick, who died on Monday night, became a figure of controversy in political circles following the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank and the State Bank Guarantee in 2008.

Government departments did not offer any comment in relation to the death of Sean FitzPatrick at the age of 73.  

The silence from the political establishment to the sudden death of the former chief executive and chairman of Anglo Irish Bank told its own story.

There was no mention of his passing on the floor of Dáil Éireann, despite his name being regularly invoked there in the past under the auspices of being widely criticised for his role in the 2008 financial crash and subsequent years of austerity.

Mr FitzPatrick, who died on Monday night, became a figure of controversy in political circles following the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank and the State Bank Guarantee in 2008.

He became an emblem for the light-touch, often no-touch regulation, which existed under Fianna Fáil during the Celtic Tiger years.

Then-taoiseach Brian Cowen was accused by then-Labour leader Eamon Gilmore of committing economic treason under privilege in the Dáil after revelations emerged of a golf game between the two men months before the guarantee was extended.

In 2010, following the publication of a book by journalists Tom Lyons and Brian Carey, Mr Gilmore attacked Mr Cowen for exposing the State to picking up the tab of a “rotten bank”.

'Economic treason'

"If the Taoiseach's Government knew Anglo Irish Bank was insolvent and he asked the Irish taxpayer to bail it out and to pay the cost we are now paying for it, that was and is economic treason," he said in a highly charged atmosphere in the Dáil.

Mr Gilmore made the comments during Leaders' Questions where he quizzed the taoiseach about contacts he had with Mr FitzPatrick.

"First, did the Taoiseach discuss the bank's business at the dinner or the golf outing? Second, will he put on the record of the House all of his contacts with Anglo Irish Bank between the beginning of 2008 and the time of its nationalisation?

"Is the bottom line not that the Government provided a bail-out, a guarantee, to a bust bank and that the people must now pay for this through reduced incomes and social welfare payments, additional taxes, a loss of business, and the economic problem with which they are trying to cope?"

At the 2015 banking inquiry, Mr Cowen said he regretted the round of golf with Anglo boss Mr FitzPatrick "if only for the optics".

The controversial game took place in Druids Glen on July 23, 2008, just months after a catastrophic collapse of Anglo Irish Bank shares.

Mr Cowen played with Mr FitzPatrick and his long-term friend Fintan Drury, a former Anglo director. Later, the trio joined Alan Gray, a director of the Central Bank, Gary McGann, a director of Anglo, and Mr Cowen's driver for dinner at the golf club.

Mr Cowen described the game as "unfortunate from an optical point of view".

"Yes, I'd rather it didn't happen," he told the banking inquiry.

When TD Kieran O'Donnell asked him if he had shown poor judgment in taking part, Mr Cowen responded that there was nothing wrong with what he did.

"I didn't do anything inappropriate or untoward. If people want to set it up that something happened, I can't do anything about it," he said.

Several deputies questioned Mr Cowen about that golf outing. Pearse Doherty asked if the former taoiseach knew that it was mainly Anglo individuals who would be present.

"It didn't occur to me much really," he said.

Mr FitzPatrick was declared bankrupt in 2010 with debts of €147m but continued to live in an upmarket area of Greystones in Co Wicklow.

In April 2014, at the start of the first of several trials over many years of prominent Anglo and other bankers, Judge Martin Nolan said jurors must leave at the courtroom door any prejudices they held against bankers for the country's debt "calamity”.

During the trial, Judge Nolan had referred to Anglo as "probably the most famous, and some would say infamous, bank in this country".

Acquitted of charges

At the 2016 trial, Mr FitzPatrick was acquitted of all charges that he had provided "unlawful financial assistance" in July 2008 to a group of long-standing customers, known as the Maple 10, to buy shares in Anglo.

In 2017, Mr FitzPatrick was also acquitted of charges of hiding loans from auditors.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee John McGuinness questioned whether the banks to this day are properly supervised by the Government.

"Independence is the word that must be emphasised. And also they need to be active to show any neutral onlooker that there is an independent regulator and an independent Central Bank," Mr McGuinness said.

Of those to pay tribute, former Bank of Ireland CEO Richie Boucher expressed his sympathies to Mr FitzPatrick’s family.

His former school, Presentation College Bray, said it was very sorry to hear of his untimely death.

“Sean FitzPatrick graduated from Presentation College Bray in 1966. Over the years he has been a very good friend and supporter of the school and the Past Pupils' Union,” the school said.

“We are sorry to hear of his untimely passing and express sympathy to his wife Triona and his children. We know he will be sadly missed by all his friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anan,” the statement added.