Sir, – For at least five years the public, egged on by politicians, has been baying for the blood of the bankers on the understanding that they were the cause of all the ills that befell our economy.
Hopefully, Judge Nolan’s decision to highlight the role of the regulator in an illegal share support operation will be the start of a new focus on those truly responsible – the Government.
While there may have been some elements of criminality – yet to be fully uncovered – in the actions of bankers, the main reason behind their reckless lending was sheer stupidity. They decided, with the herd mentality that has always been a characteristic of that profession, that there would not be a downturn in the property market. This view was shared by thousands of borrowers and by a political caste which did not want to call an end to the party.
It is the regulator’s job to stand back from the crowd and consider the possible downside of actions taken by bankers, and to rein them in accordingly. Not only, as has been found in this case, did the regulator allow and encourage the Anglo Irish directors to give loans to support their share price, he also – and more damagingly – allowed the banks to build up massive exposure to a single sector of the economy and to relax lending rules to the extent that the smallest shock would inevitably lead to immense bad debts.
It is the Government which is ultimately responsible for failing to ensure that their regulator was competent. But not only did it fail to do so, it also ran the economy in a manner which fostered the banks’ ability to indulge in a lending splurge. Both those in charge at the time of the crash and the new political incumbents have attempted to exonerate themselves by blaming the bankers, and in the process have virtually encouraged reckless borrowers to renege on the debts they took on – at the expense of the taxpayers.
I would award the politicians a gold star for the success of their campaign to divert responsibility from where it really lies. Hopefully the Nolan judgement will mark the beginning of the end of this brainwashing. Yours, etc,
SARA MacARTHUR,
Limetree Avnue,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin
Sir, – Surely those who contributed to the financial destruction of the country from their positions in public jobs should not be rewarded for their incompetence. The state pension is all that they should receive, but I will not hold my breath for that measure to be implemented. Yours, etc,
AVRIL HEDDERMAN,
Priory Grove,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin
Sir, – I agree with Judge Nolan’s decision not to jail the former directors of the failed Anglo Irish Bank. Our cultural environment at the time of the events contributed to behaviour that perhaps at a different time and in a different place would not have occurred. So what next? Certainly the premises of the regulator’s office should have a dressing down and operate out of some obvious inferior building and thus serve as a constant reminder not only of the financial crash and its impact. We might incorporate a new motto into its letterhead: (Invisible) money makes you mindless. Remember 2007. Yours, etc,
JANE KINSELLA,
Rochestown Avenue,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin
Sir, – So, it was a case of “the big boys made me do it”? Or if not the big boys, then perhaps the inadequate boys? The pronouncement by Judge Martin Nolan that one arm of the State could not punish an offence that was encouraged by another State body, namely the financial regulator’s office, disregards the well understood legal principle of “joint enterprise”.
It seems that the much loved loopholes enjoyed by the people who got us into this mess continue to be enjoyed when the State acts to try to hold some to account. Meanwhile, back in the non-loophole world, poor people are threatened with jail with no possibility of excuse if they don’t pay property tax, TV licences or water tax. This is no republic. Yours, etc,
DECLAN DOYLE,
Lisdowney,
Kilkenny
Sir, – Re the non-jailing of the two Anglo-Irish executives, can we take it that ignorance of the law will now be regarded as a mitigating factor in white collar crimes? It certainly doesn’t seem to apply in other areas of our legal system. Yours, etc,
LOUIS HOGAN,
Harbour View,
Wicklow Town
Sir, – So it’s clear. The function of very costly corporate lawyers is to give advice which if found to be wrong will ensure you don’t go to jail for your part in bankrupting a country. No wonder we were, and probably still are, regarded as the “Wild West” of finance. Some times you just can’t help but feel ashamed to be Irish. Yours, etc,
NIALL GOUGH,
Dunluce Road,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3
Sir, – The inaction and/or incompetence of a state agency and its servants is now an excuse for a non-custodial sentence. I look forward to future judgements in relation to memb ers of marginalised communities where surely it can be argued that the State has failed to provide adequate health, education and recreational amenities. Yours, etc,
PADRAIG McGARTY,
Mohill,
Co Leitrim
Sir, – When I was a child I never got away with something on the grounds that “he made me do it”, nor with saying “I didn’t know it was his”. When we played football next to a neighbour’s window, the fact that I didn’t kick the fateful shot didn’t absolve me of my collective responsibility. Common sense arguments with a child. However, in the adult world all of this is turned on its head. I am looking forward to Judge Nolan absolving petty criminals on the grounds that their motive wasn’t greed or avarice but feeding their child. But no: one law for the rich and another for the rest of us. Yours, etc,
GEARÓID Ó LOINGSIGH,
Bogotá,
Colombia