TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has said he utterly refutes “malicious” and “unfounded” allegations about his motives during two contacts in 2008 with former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick.
Mr Cowen issued a statement last night setting out the circumstances behind the two previously undisclosed contacts: a phone call he received from Mr FitzPatrick in March 2008; and a social outing in July that year where Mr Cowen and Mr FitzPatrick played golf and had dinner together.
Both occurred in the months before the State guaranteed the deposits and bonds of the major financial institutions and during a period when there was a severe drop in the value of Anglo Irish Bank shares. Moreover they took place at a time where the bank was trying to deal with an emerging crisis in regard to the shareholding held by businessman Seán Quinn.
Mr Cowen last night rejected any impropriety on his part arising from the two contacts and accused the Opposition of political opportunism.
“There was nothing untoward, no hidden or secret agenda and no concessions, favours or interventions requested or granted. Certain people are drawing inferences for political and other motives. They are malicious, unfounded and have no basis in fact,” he said.
Fine Gael and Labour said there were serious contradictions between the disclosures at the weekend and the account Mr Cowen gave to the Dáil in February of how he had first learned about the problems surrounding the unwinding of a secret stake Mr Quinn had built up in the bank through the use of contracts for difference (CFDs).
Fine Gael spokesman on public expenditure Brian Hayes said Mr Cowen told the Dáil on February 17th 2009 he had learned of the problem through official sources, specifically a meeting with then Central Bank governor John Hurley in March 2008.
He said that could not be tallied with the account that Mr Fitzpatrick gave to the two authors of a new book, The Fitzpatrick Tapes. He had informed Mr Cowen by phone in March 2008 about the problem with the Quinn shareholding.
Labour Party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said Mr Cowen may have misled the Dáil in February 2009. In his statement, Mr Cowen contended that at the time Mr Fitzpatrick rang him on March 17th, 2008, he was already aware of the issue affecting Anglo Irish Bank, having been briefed by then Central Bank governor John Hurley, earlier that month (March) in 2008.
Mr Cowen agreed to issue the statement after a telephone conversation with Green Party leader John Gormley earlier yesterday evening.
Mr Gormley had said he was concerned about the contacts, which he had not known about until the weekend. The issue was the subject of involved discussion at the first day of the Green’s two-day parliamentary party meeting in Malahide yesterday.
A party source said last night that it was unlikely to lead to an early break-up of Government unless new revelations come to light.
Mr Cowen said he is “quite clear” no discussions regarding Anglo Irish Bank took place at the golf outing in July 2008, organised by his friend Fintan Drury “It was a social outing in full public view,” he said. As regards the phone call, he confirmed he took it while in Asia during the St Patrick’s Day period of 2008.
Mr Cowen said he told the Dáil in February 2009 he had been informed of the situation in Anglo Irish Bank in early 2008, before the phone call. He said he told Mr Fitzpatrick he would refer the issue to the governor of the Central Bank.
“The Regulator subsequently followed up on the issue at a meeting with Anglo Irish Bank which I understand was held in the Central Bank Headquarters on Good Friday the 21st March 2008. The continuing attempt to suggest that the Government’s approach to the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank was influenced by political or any inappropriate considerations is utterly without foundation,” he said.
A number of Fianna Fail TDs, including two ministers, said yesterday that the disclosures were politically damaging for Mr Cowen but none said that it would lead to any move against his leadership. They also criticised the lack of visibility of Mr Cowen since Christmas. One TD, said the party was weary, lacking in morale, but there was no appetite for a leadership contest.