One More Thing: The thorn that won’t leave Noonan’s side

The rebel shareholders of Permanent TSB haven't gone away, you know. Finance minister Michael Noonan was probably hoping the group, led by Piotr Skoczylas, would slink off quietly.

The State won the last round of their High Court battle to reverse his break-up of IL&P and the €1.3 billion sale of the insurance arm to Canada West. Skoczylas’ Maltese-registered hedge fund bought into IL&P in an ill-fated investment during the crisis, and the Pole has been a Jack Russell at Noonan’s heel ever since.

His group has now taken the fight to Brussels. It has submitted a 148-page dossier to the European Commission, and has asked it to hold off on approving the latest PTSB restructuring plan, submitted by Noonan last month.

Skoczylas says it should not be approved until the Supreme Court rules in the autumn on the last round of the battle. The group also last week issued yet another set of High Court proceedings, to injunct the PTSB restructuring plan.

Skoczylas reckons Noonan has breached EU rules, and that he will win if the European Court of Justice gets to adjudicate on it using European laws. “Why did the Russians keep fighting at Stalingrad in 1941? Because they believed they would win. And we will,” he said.