Sir, – It is time to stop pussyfooting around what has gone on with the banks. We don’t need another inquiry, we need action. Call in the law and let it take it’s course. What are we, the people, doing? We have listened to politicians’ platitudes for far too long; we have watched our towns and villages die; we have watched our friends and neighbours go bankrupt, we have watched our young emigrate; and worse still we have watched many of our people die by their own hand when they reached the depths of despair.
Is it not time to stand up and be counted or are we going to let them trample all over us whenever they like? – Yours, etc,
ANNA MARIA
KENNELLY,
Moyvane,
Co Kerry.
Sir – I spent some time listening to radio broadcasts of several extracts from the Anglo Irish Bank telephone recordings. Consequently, I feel I have a better understanding of what those in the banking and financial fraternity mean when they speak of the need to continue paying massive salaries in order to attract the best “talent” to run our financial institutions.
Ingenuity comedy, mimicry, trickery, wit (?) – it’s all there. Such a wide and varied rage of “talent” doesn’t come cheaply, as we suckers should know by now. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS NAGHTEN,
Straffan Wood,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Reading about Anglo Irish Bank and its dealings with the Central Bank – then reading about the Central Bank and its new guidelines for dealing with borrowers: if Shakespeare were alive today he would have to change the ending of The Merchant of Venice, as Antonio would have lost. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MURNANE,
Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.
Sir, – Recent “revelations” remind me of a quote from Groucho Marx, along the following lines. “For years the mayor and other officials have squandered the citizens’ hard-earned cash, now at last it is my turn”. Many a true word, etc ?
TOM GILSENAN,
Elm Mount,
Beaumont, Dublin 9.
Sir, – After five long years of overwhelming misery, pitiless despair and the devastation of never-ending austerity, only now do we hear over the airwaves, the malevolent construction of the deceit which has ruined the people of Ireland for many years to come.
Years have passed but no one has been brought to justice, no one is responsible. We can only glean the truth from the press and the airwaves, never from those who promised, and we elected, to clean house. Is it too much to ask that just once, just once finally, some real and tangible action might take place if for no other reason than to take the place of the missing bread and circuses? – Yours, etc,
NOEL LEAHY,
Knockbrack,
Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick.
Sir, – The revelations on the Anglo Irish Bank tapes demand correct action. We must not be bounced into setting up a tribunal of inquiry where this story could be buried for 15 to 20 years. Anglo must be investigated by a new special high court with sufficient investigators to quickly work through the documents. There are plenty of young hungry and unemployed professionals who would jump at this chance.
This court could take over any planned criminal actions against banking executives to ensure that the inquiry does not interfere with their right to a fair trial. As the only avenue of appeal would be the Supreme Court, it should be possible to appoint extra (retired) judges there to deal with these in a speedy manner.
We are paying for “light touch regulation”. We are all victims of Anglo and it is no longer viable to wait. – Yours, etc,
BARRY KEANE,
Fine Gael Area
Representative,
Cork City South West,
Glendalough Park, Cork.
Sir, – Are there tapes containing senior ministers’ and civil servants’ discussions with Anglo? Surely! – Yours, etc,
D O’SHEA,
Pinecroft Grange,
Cork.
Sir, – “Widespread anger at contents of bankers’ taped conversation” (Front page, June 25th). Well now, what will “widespread anger” achieve for us here in Ireland?
The return of Fianna Fáil, perhaps? – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Moorpark,
Kilmacanogue,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I can only hope that former senior Anglo executive John Bowe, and CEO David Drumm, didn't realise that the version of the German national anthem that Mr Bowe sang a line of on the recorded conversation was the version that was used by the Nazis, the first stanza of the original 1841 lyrics. Since the end of the second World War only stanza three is used. The opening sentence "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" is no longer sung in the anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany. It will probably be considered an insult to the German population. – Yours, etc,
DAVID WILKINS,
Vevay Road,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I must deplore the po-faced attitude of some commentators to the allegedly flippant tone adopted by senior Anglo bankers when discussing the impending collapse of the bank. In fact, as these men were evidently aware,the Irish banking crisis provides a rich vein of classic comedy gold.
For example, will we ever forget financial regulator Pat Neary’s hilarious “the Irish banks are so well regulated” routine?
And what about those other comical catchphrases: green shoots, soft landing, turning the corner, or the (literally) priceless “cheapest bailout in the world so far”? Banking crisis? You just have to laugh! – Yours, etc,
FINBAR O’CONNOR,
Claude Road,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.