Derek Quinlan called to give evidence before Banking Inquiry

Derek Quinlan, one of Ireland's most prolific property financiers in the boom years, has been called to give evidence before the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry.

The purchase of the luxury Savoy hotel group in London and the €1.166 billion purchase of the Jurys Inn budget hotel chain were among the high-profile deals put together by Mr Quinlan before the banking and property markets crashed in late 2008.

Mr Quinlan, who was one of Anglo Irish Bank’s biggest clients, has been living outside the country since 2009, first in Switzerland and then London.

Last year, Mr Quinlan told US magazine Vanity Fair that he doesn’t see himself ever returning to live in Ireland and it is not clear if he will agree to attend the inquiry.

Fellow property developers Sean Mulryan of Ballymore Properties, Joe O'Reilly, who developed the Dundrum Towncentre, and Michael O'Flynn, the Corkman who exited the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) late last year, have also been called to give evidence.

These are among 15 witnesses sent letters on Wednesday by the inquiry seeking for them to appear before the committee. No date has been fixed for their appearances.

Also called are Cathy Herbert, the press adviser to the late Brian Lenihan during his time as minister for finance; Dermot McCarthy, secretary general of the taoiseach's office at the time of the financial crash, and two representatives - Mike Ryan and Henrietta Badlock - of Merrill Lynch, the international bank that advised the then government on its options around the bank guarantee in September 2008.

Others on the latest list of witnesses called to give account of their roles around the time of the financial crash include Michael Somers, then head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and now deputy chairman of AIB, and economist Alan Ahearne, an adviser at the department of finance at the time who appeared before the committee in the context phase of its hearings.

Former attorney general Paul Gallagher has been asked to attend, as have Eugene McCague and Pádraig Ó'Ríordáin, both senior partners with law firm Arthur Cox.

Brendan McDonagh, the Nama chief who was finance director of the NTMA in 2008, has been asked to reappear at the inquiry, having last week given an account of his role on the first day of the nexus phase.

In addition, Seamus McCarthy, the Comptroller and Auditor General, features on the latest list of witnesses.