Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Ireland on Brink as ‘Beggar’ for Aid After Losses by Fingleton

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU
 
marmar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-11-10 08:26 AM
Original message
Ireland on Brink as ‘Beggar’ for Aid After Losses by Fingleton
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- As a young accountant, Michael Fingleton took his do-it-yourself attitude from Dublin to Lagos, Nigeria, to sort out the finances of the Catholic archdiocese.

“He stayed for a year and a half, cleaned up the books and put in a system to allow them to keep it up after he left,” said John O’Loughlin Kennedy, co-founder of the charity Concern Worldwide and a friend of the Irish priest who asked Fingleton for help in the late 1960s. “He did a very good job.”

That same can-do spirit enabled Fingleton, now 72, to turn what was a century-old Irish lender with six employees when he joined in 1971 into a firm with 16.1 billion euros ($22.2 billion) of assets at its height in 2007. It also led Dublin- based Irish Nationwide Building Society to put too much power in one man’s hands, with too few risk controls, according to a May report by Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan.

Fingleton’s rise and fall, and that of Irish Nationwide, is a microcosm of the financial catastrophe that led to a bailout of five of the country’s biggest lenders. Customer-owned Irish Nationwide, which began much like George Bailey’s Building and Loan in the 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is hooked to a 5.4 billion-euro lifeline of taxpayer money to help it avoid bankruptcy. The government seized control of the company this year and is looking to sell or merge it with another firm.

‘Crazy Loans’

Meanwhile, the end of a decade-long property boom, fanned by reckless bank lending to developers and home buyers, plunged Ireland into the worst recession since at least 1947. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aEzBmzzOjxE8&pos=11



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC