Two ex-ministers speak out about 'rushed' bank guarantee

CONOR POPE

THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to announce a blanket bank guarantee in September 2008 was rushed and ill-conceived, according to two former Fianna Fáil ministers who have spoken out for the first time in a major two-part documentary which begins on RTÉ 1 tonight.

In Crisis – Inside the Cowen Government Willie O’Dea and Mary Hanafin are both critical of the manner in which they were “bounced” into making a decision which would, ultimately, lead to the IMF-EU bailout.

Both said they were given no alternative but to back the decision to offer a blanket guarantee to all of Ireland’s banks in a tele-conference held between cabinet ministers in the early hours of September 30th, 2008.

Ministers were told by the Department of Finance that “the markets were opening in the morning and there was the possibility of no money in the ATMs” and that “nothing short of this full absolute guarantee would save the situation”.

“It was probably the most far-reaching decision I ever participated in in my five years in cabinet and I would have liked to have sat around the table to discuss it,” Mr O’Dea said. He also admits “the government did not have a mandate” to offer the bank guarantee and suggests that “in retrospect, it would have been better for the country if a fresh government” had come to power at that stage.

The programme also reveals that PJ Mara and other senior Fianna Fáil figures begged then taoiseach Brian Cowen to address the communications deficit in his performance but their pleas were ignored.

The documentary will also focus on Mr Cowen’s relationship with alcohol and according to one minister, the alcohol-fuelled culture which was central to the party contributed to its collapse in February’s general election.