FitzPatrick attacks Hobbs

The chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Seán FitzPatrick has attacked Eddie Hobbs, the presenter of RTÉ's summer hit, Rip Off Republic. John McManus reports.

Referring to Mr Hobbs as "one of the thousands of financial advisers who trade in Ireland", Mr FitzPatrick said: "RTÉ chose to give a TV soap box to Eddie Hobbs, someone who - completely unchecked - was allowed to go on a rant about our economy that targeted almost every stakeholder in that economic success."

He said: "Everyone knows there have been overruns in infrastructural budgets. We all know that the taxation cocktail hits us particularly hard on certain goods and services and so on, but why oh why give this man four weeks of primetime television?"

"This is not good. I'd genuinely worry that much of the nonsense he peddled would gain common currency and the wholly unbalanced Hobbsian perspective on Ireland of 2005 would fuel the anger of many of those who failed to benefit from our economic success thus far. This could also support a political agenda that is far removed from any of our long established political parties."

Mr FitzPatrick, who was speaking at The Irish Times Property Advertising Awards, said that were this to happen "RTÉ should be held accountable, as the media generally must be, for the significant influence it has on the economic environment. This whole area needs attention".

Sustaining the economic success of the past 15 years was the job of everyone "and the media should prompt and prod us all - politicians, business people, the social partners - to ensure that this happens.

"Just spare us the polemics and the hyperbole and give us some balance," he said.