Two columnists this week have raised the situation surrounding the Quinn group. Michael McDowell questions what he describes as a “deep seated moral ambivalence” in the Irish state. Nick Leeson the former rogue trader who caused the collapse of at least one bank” examined his own experience of the media and concluded that Seán Quinn is in denial.
In an opinion column in The Irish Independent, Michael McDowell questions what he describes as a “deep seated moral ambivalence” in the Irish state. He says it is all around us and examines (1) the Quinn insurance insolvency and the Quins’ relationship with the Anglo Irish Bank, (2) The Moriarty tribunal and (3) the undue influence used in “a gross, blatant and inexcusable attempt to subvert the Irish Independent’s editorial independence by a director in the interests of a powerful person who resented that the newspaper’s coverage”.
McDowell commences, “When I was asked to launch Elaine Byrne’s book, Political Corruption in Ireland 1922-2010, I took the opportunity to warn of a culture of impunity that is gripping the throat of Irish public life.
“It is all around us. Peter D Quinn languishing in Fermanagh and his cousin now languishing in Mountjoy, while Sean Quinn plays the victim in public and a large coalition of the gullible parade in support of them, are but a blatant example of brazen impunity and disloyalty to our State being rewarded by deep-seated moral ambivalence.”
Those who feel sympathy for the Quinns, he states, “Should be asking : “Why?” If Anglo Irish Bank ill-served Sean Quinn, he was trying at the time to acquire a huge interest in it by stealth. And those people marching in sympathy might also ask why members of his family were being paid salaries of €300,000 by East European property companies. And to the argument, “He’s the only man to bring jobs to the border counties”, we should respond: “Just why did he throw all those jobs out on to the roulette table by his reckless acquisition by stealth of a large interest in Anglo Irish Bank?”: “Why?” If Anglo Irish Bank ill-served Sean Quinn, he was trying at the time to acquire a huge interest in it by stealth. And those people marching in sympathy might also ask why members of his family were being paid salaries of €300,000 by East European property companies. And to the argument, “He’s the only man to bring jobs to the border counties”, we should respond: “Just why did he throw all those jobs out on to the roulette table by his reckless acquisition by stealth of a large interest in Anglo Irish Bank?”
The second columnist was Nick Leeson the former trader who in his own words, “caused the collapse of at least one bank.” He examined his own experience of the media and concluded that Seán Quinn is in denial.
“I was amazed that five thousand people, several of whom were well known, could be moved or even bothered enough to turn up to laud someone who was, in my opinion, part of the business elite that ruined this country. I have never paid the story too much attention but the announcement during the week that he was to interview for Vincent Browne was one that piqued my interest,” he said.
He continued, “There is no doubt that Sean Quinn was a very successful businessman and job creator for a large period of his life but his fall from grace has been equally spectacular and the personal impact that has had on Mr Quinn was of particular interest.
“I suppose that I have been in some similar situations. I was feted for my successes, I enjoyed the trappings of wealth, I gambled with large sums of money – in my case, none of it my own – and ultimately failed causing the collapse of at least one bank. I may be simplifying the situation somewhat but there are parallels.”
Leeson said he was most interested in how the former richest man in Ireland has been performing under media scrutiny…
Leeson states, “As much as Mr Quinn makes the right noises in regard to questions regarding his own culpability, they are less convincing than his vehement defence of his position in relation to the assets and his easy-blame transference to the bank. He accepts that he should have been sanctioned over company monies that he used to pay his CFD margin calls, he accepts that he should have been removed as Chairman but on both counts if that is the extent of his punishment, I think he has been very lucky.
“Extremely risky”
“Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are highly leveraged investment vehicles. They are extremely risky and used incorrectly, extremely dangerous. A €1 investment can gain you a €10 exposure to the markets. Seán Quinn used these instruments aggressively and recklessly, acquiring effectively a 25 per cent stake in Anglo Irish Bank through gambling on CFDs to the tune of €900 million.”
Leeson concludes, “The five thousand people who turned up in Ballyconnell a week ago may owe Seán Quinn some loyalty for things that he has done in the past. I find it difficult to find any sympathy for him. There are consequences to all actions and Seán Quinn still has a few to run through based on the stance that he is taking.
“The sooner he comes to terms with that the better for all concerned. It’s a tough journey but one that is needed.
“The one point that I may have had sympathy on is the way that his family have become embroiled in the scandal but the moment that they became involved in placing assets outside of the control of the state, any sympathy is lost; they are all fair game.”
Those who are concerned not only about the Ireland of today, but the Ireland of the future will need to wrestle with integrity with Michael McDowell’s concern that there is “deep seated moral ambivalence” in the Irish state. For sure the oracles of the churches – bishops and clergy – have been silent for the greater part. Never mind theology, Christian ethics no longer seem to figure in the public place. Child abuse has silenced the Catholics and same sex relationships the Anglicans. The Churches are by their own volition part of a conspiracy of silence.
For sure there is not a Bonhoeffer in sight in the erstwhile “land of saints and scholars”. There is no one who is challenging “a culture of impunity that is gripping the throat of Irish public life”. Pray that those in the Anglican House of Bishops who will be charged later this year to appoint an Archbishop to the See of Patrick will prioritise in their criteria this leadership responsibility for society as a whole, rather than conduct an anodyne search for a safe pair of hands for a tame and domesticised church – one which the C of I has almost become and to which end that House is currently colluding by its silence and reluctance to critique under the lens of the Gospel res publica. Theology and Christian ethics are for the public space, not the cloister or vestry.
Houston McKelvey
http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/readme/sean-quinn-cavan-rally-544719-Aug2012/