Of the Week..

Table of the Week

 

The special report from the Comptroller and Auditor General which was prepared in February 2012 but only published during the week revealed that NAMA has employed “Asset Searchers” to see if developers have squirreled away undisclosed assets that might be used to pay down outstanding loans. It seems that there is not a gold mine there, based on initial results which have turned up additional assets as shown above, but which involve follow-ups which don’t have certain outcomes and in some instances, NAMA says that the cost of pursuit outweighs any benefit.

Quote of the Week

“You don’t say when you are in an emergency situation, because then you make the situation worse. So I really don’t see the usefulness of being more transparent” Belgian central bank governor, Luc Coene refusing to discuss the €100bn secret Emergency Liquidity Assistance provided to Greek banks.

“As the Deputy is aware one has to read or listen very carefully to what emanates by way of statement from European Authorities. The general tone of such comments has followed the line that Irelandmust honour commitments in relation to the repayment of debt. The Government is also committed to this principle.” Minister for Finance Michael Noonan replying to Deputy Micheal Martin and giving a downbeat assessment after 15 months in office of his Department’s progress with securing a reduction in the burden of the bank debt.

“Greece is the only country, I feel, where we can say ‘it’s a failed state,’ it is a corrupt state, corrupt as far as its political leadership is concerned and obviously other people had to be willing to support this” Incoming Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen saying what would appear to be on the minds of many in Germany

Chutzpah of the Week

NAMA announced during the week that it intended pumping €2bn into properties associated with its loans over the next four years, something the Agency claimed would create 35,000 jobs including 25,000 construction jobs. In addition, the Agency announced that it expected to make €2bn available in staple or vendor financing, that is where the Agency converts part of the sale price into a loan. And which company should prick up its ears and show its head above the parapet? Step forward NAMA main litigation partner, Treasury Holdings! I’ve lost count of the legal and foreclosure actions taken by both sides in the NAMA versus Treasury conflict – receivers have been appointed to over 35 companies in the Treasury Group, NAMA is suing Treasury and its founders over a €20m share transaction, Treasury is suing NAMA over its decision to appoint administrators at the Battersea Power Station, Treasury sought and received approval for a judicial review of NAMA’s dealings with its loans. But for all of that, Treasury’s Irish managing director John Bruder says “We’ve always said that we want to work with NAMA, not against NAMA”

Irony of the Week

Up to now we have been used to developers fighting to stay OUT of NAMA. But during the week, we witnessed a developer trying to argue in court that he should be allowed IN. Hotelier and developer, Johnny Moran was suing IBRC, formerly Anglo and INBS, in Dublin’s High Court after that bank had receivers appointed to Johnny’s companies last year. It was reported that Johnny was arguing that similar borrowers to Johnny and his companies had seen their loans transferred to NAMA, so why weren’t his! A report in the Independent goes on to say Johnny and his companies “claimed that had their loans been taken over by NAMA, they would have obtained continuing support for their business, the loans would not have been called in and a receiver would not have been appointed” The judge didn’t allow this claim to proceed. It is unclear what has happened to the rest of Johnny’s case against IBRC, the Independent implies it has failed, the Courts Service implies there are further hearings in prospect.

Like your local cemetery some might say, they’re dying to get in!

Media event of the Week

 

There is stiff competition this weekend as Jedward goes head-to-head with the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis – will the twins be hair-up or hair-down and more importantly, what about Gerry Adams? – but the winner is likely to be An Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s address to the nation tomorrow at 6pm on RTE. There is already nail-biting anticipation in advance of the address because as An Taoiseach told the Dail during the week “RTE has invited me, as Taoiseach, to do a broadcast on Sunday following the Ard-Fheis contribution of the leader of Sinn Fein, Deputy Gerry Adams. However, I believe that to be predicated on how much time Deputy Adams devotes to the fiscal stability treaty issue on Saturday evening”, so the amount of time given over to An Taoiseach’s slot will depend on how long Gerry Adams entertains us with talk this evening specifically about the Fiscal Compact referendum and even more specifically how much time he spends advocating a “no” vote; will it be 15 minutes, 5 minutes , 30 seconds? Tomorrow’s address to the nation is unusual because of the timing of the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis being held on the weekend before a referendum. Sinn Fein seemingly booked the Ard Fheis in January 2012 before the decision to hold a referendum was announced, and remember it was only at the end of April 2012 that a date for the referendum was decided. But RTE’s rules, and it is good to see the national broadcaster has some rules, say that in the run-up to a referendum, there be balance between the two sides of the debate.

Of course the real media curiosity in this referendum is the decision of An Taoiseach not to debate the issues on live television or radio. And his opponents have leapt on this curiosity calling An Taoiseach a coward and a “Yellow Shirt”. In September 2010, the TV3 veteran broadcaster and journalist Vincent Browne concluded one of his nightly shows with a jibe at Enda Kenny suggesting he might go into a dark room with a gun and bottle of whiskey, this after some poor poll results and an attempted heave in 2010. The programme is no longer available online, so it seems not to be possible to get the exact words used by Vincent Browne but Enda Kenny reacted to them by taking deep umbrage at such suggestions in a country where suicide is regarded as a major issue – which of course it is and every death is a tragedy but contrary to perception, Ireland is no-where near the top of the global suicide tables. Taoiseach Kenny has subsequently refused to appear on a programme hosted by Vincent Browne citing this incident as the reason.Now Vincent Browne’s jibe had overtones of the aristocratic stereotype of taking one’s life in the library with the two props of gun and whiskey usually after bringing some disgrace to the family name. I am willing to be proved wrong on this but I cannot recall a single incidence in Ireland of whiskey, dark room and gun being the method of choice for a suicide. Taoiseach Kenny told the Dail this week “However, I turned down the invitation to appear on a particular programme for good reasons” Some might say that Enda Kenny is shamefully hiding behind the skirt-tails of the tragedy of suicide so as to avoid live debate.