Impending General Election....GT's choice.....

Boxtyeater wrote:Looka Dumbo..stick you're funny **** picckys up your ganseys...when the rollie dollie, oaps' and "Hand-out"-monies were exceeding 10% were you whinging..

..May be your mixing me up with the 14% of dumbos that think FF dumbos are doing a good job....

As for the increased dole payments ,they were always welcomed more dole more beer..

Jonsmith wrote:

hipster 2 wrote:yes china and they only be to glad to help and would charge less than the ECB and the IMF but then we only ever do what our masters in the uk and europe tell us to do, sickening really but then its quite obvious that this country still has village politics

Have you spoken to the Chinese government to see what rate they would give? Why would it be better than the Bond Markets and the EU/IMF? This is classic stuff.. "China would be only too glad to help"...


The Chinese, a great bunch of lads!

Asian investors help our bailout

ASIAN investors rushed to buy up bonds sold by the European Union to help finance aid for Ireland, which means that the bailout package from the EU is being funded in part by China.

China first emerged as a buyer of Irish debt in 2008.

But the amount purchased rose to 21.5pc of the €5bn of five-year bonds compared to the 4pc average two years ago.

However, the main buyers remain in the UK, Germany, France and the US.

The EU has increasingly looked to China over the past year for support in tackling the euro-area debt crisis triggered by Greece, which received a €110bn rescue in May.

Then in November, Ireland obtained an €85bn package.

In the purchase of government bonds, Europe represented 71.5pc -- with the UK taking 16.5pc -- while the Americas 6pc, the EU said. Chinese vice-commerce minister Gao Hucheng said that China would buy Spanish public debt in the primary and secondary markets.

Heard in a pub over XMAS

IF Spain ends up needing an IMF bail out it will be too big for the EU and even the US
so the major investor in any IMF bailout will be the chinese
IF that happens China will become the biggest stakeholder in the IMF
which means the IMF head office has to move to china

Pub talk - im sure but does sound plausible


Also seemingly there are a lot of people afraid that the Euro will collapse and Ireland will end up with a devalued currency - Waves of money going out of ireland now invested in Dollars or even Yuan linked investments.

OMAR wrote:Heard in a pub over XMAS

IF Spain ends up needing an IMF bail out it will be too big for the EU and even the US
so the major investor in any IMF bailout will be the chinese
IF that happens China will become the biggest stakeholder in the IMF
which means the IMF head office has to move to china

Pub talk - im sure but does sound plausible


Also seemingly there are a lot of people afraid that the Euro will collapse and Ireland will end up with a devalued currency - Waves of money going out of ireland now invested in Dollars or even Yuan linked investments.

So Omar when do we throw in the white flag,and say enough is enough....

Its ok - don't fret - David the Messiah Mc W is gonna give all the answers in a Sunday newspaper ..... can't wait. How is that man not a multi multi billionaire by now ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Its ok - don't fret - David the Messiah Mc W is gonna give all the answers in a Sunday newspaper ..... can't wait. How is that man not a multi multi billionaire by now ....

Jc he told us already,but no one was listening...Just because he prints something different doesn't mean he's wrong..Lets not forget what Bertie thought of Morgan Kelly....Dave MC is not so bad IMO

You'd have to go back and read all what these guys wrote mulliins. In retrospect they can cherry pick - I said this, I said that. If you see the article the week before or after they probably said the complete opposite. If some of these guys predicted it all then they should've made a fooking killing ... as far as I can see they didn't. Spoofers as the great Boxty might say ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:You'd have to go back and read all what these guys wrote mulliins. In retrospect they can cherry pick - I said this, I said that. If you see the article the week before or after they probably said the complete opposite. If some of these guys predicted it all then they should've made a fooking killing ... as far as I can see they didn't. Spoofers as the great Boxty might say ....

Spoofers have brought us the abyss..Dave Mc just gives his opinion rightly or wrongly....whatever way you choose to see it

Or possibly every way - that way you can't be wrong - when you cherry pick the 'right' points you made a while later .... Another of these great white economists came into the world to save us all and lasted about 10 minutes.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Or possibly every way - that way you can't be wrong - when you cherry pick the 'right' points you made a while later .... Another of these great white economists came into the world to save us all and lasted about 10 minutes.

Jc i made these calls to friends what would happen this year..i don't need an economists to tell me..i knew after the summer where this country was at.. My business has collapsed 50% each year for the last 3 years..But thats life

Thats kinda the point I'm making m ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Thats kinda the point I'm making m ....

Agreed Jc

A PROPERTY developer and former president of a credit union has admitted he owes 'substantial' amounts of money to the lender, as it prepares to write off almost [euro]1.4m in loans to officials.

Tom McHugh, a Fine Gael councillor and former mayor of Co. Galway, was president of St Jarlath's Credit Union in Tuam, Co. Galway, from 2007 until early 2009.

But since the boom, the hotelier and developer has had new financial woes. Last month, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed that the Mr McHugh was being pursued by his own council for more than [euro]300,000 owed in development levies relating to an unfinished housing in Tuam.


Loans by the credit union to its own officials leapt from just [euro]595,330 in 2007 to over [euro]1.8m in 2008, when he was its president.

The union has been forced to set aside [euro]1.38m to provide for defaults on loans made to its own officials.

The revelation will raise fundamental questions about how credit unions operated during the boom, and why they were ever allowed to lend money to their own bosses.

Meanwhile, in addition to Mr McHugh's personal borrowings, it has also emerged that the credit union registered two mortgage charges against Mr McHugh's company, Thomas McHugh (Kilcloghans) Ltd, some six months after he stepped down as president of the St Jarlath's last year.

The building firm's accounts for 2008 show that in that year, as it went from profits of over [euro]350,000 to a loss of some [euro]290,000, the amount it owed to lending institutions leaped from [euro]2.2m to [euro]4.5m. His firm's accounts for 2008, which note that the 'outlook for the company remains challenging', do not reveal how much, if any, of those loans came from his credit union, and Mr McHugh and the credit union both declined to comment.

But while the company does have loans with other banks, only two new mortgages were registered on its accounts since January 2007, both from St Jarlath's. The filings give no amounts but say: 'St Jarlath's Credit Union Ltd hold a first legal charge on certain sites at Clorghran (sic), Kilcloghans, Tuam, Co. Galway'.

The accounts also reveal that loans by the directors to the company jumped by over [euro]1m in 2008. Only Mr McHugh and his wife Sally are directors of the firm.

The issue will also raise questions as to what extent Irish credit unions, originally set up as community-focused centres of savings and low-level lending, engaged in commercial lending that fuelled the property boom.

Last week, in advance of its AGM, St Jarlath's Credit Union was forced to move to quash rumours that it had been badly burned by large business borrowers defaulting on loans.

Mick Culkeen, CEO of St Jarlath's, said that the credit union was 'no longer in the business of major commercial loans' following a policy decision taken by the board of management 18 months ago - shortly after Mr McHugh had resigned from his position.

The fact that Mr McHugh may have had both personal and business borrowings from his own credit union go to the heart of concerns about the regulation of the credit union sector.

Asked if he owed the credit union as much as [euro]2m in total, Mr McHugh said: 'I won't be drawn on the exact amount, but it is a substantial amount.

'I am not going to go into it chapter and verse about my personal finances, but those relating to my company are a matter of public record.' The credit union has said it is on a solid footing.

However, while it continues to report a surplus, that figure has dropped substantially, from [euro]5,274,195 in September 2008 to [euro]1.3m last year.

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How can a credit union loan that amount of money to a developer...It was set up for people that needed it...Not for the likes of this man..

mullins wrote:

OMAR wrote:Heard in a pub over XMAS

IF Spain ends up needing an IMF bail out it will be too big for the EU and even the US
so the major investor in any IMF bailout will be the chinese
IF that happens China will become the biggest stakeholder in the IMF
which means the IMF head office has to move to china

Pub talk - im sure but does sound plausible


Also seemingly there are a lot of people afraid that the Euro will collapse and Ireland will end up with a devalued currency - Waves of money going out of ireland now invested in Dollars or even Yuan linked investments.

So Omar when do we throw in the white flag,and say enough is enough....

Ireland drew down money last week at a cost of 5.6% - The ECB raised it at a cost of 2.6%
So much for European unity - Pity the Donegal fish co-op didn't do the same thing sell fish to the Spanish at more than twice the price it cost to catch rather than letting them catch the fish themselves for the last 35 years.

Though to be fair I know a lad with a boat and hes now fishing off Holland - there is no fish left in Donegal

FitzPatrick: 'I have regrets but I'm not ashamed of my behaviour'

Monday January 10 2011

THE man portrayed as the villain of the economic collapse believes he is a scapegoat and that he is one of its biggest victims.

Sean FitzPatrick, the vilified former head of Anglo Irish Bank, says he cannot understand why he has become the face of Ireland's banking crisis and, by extension, of the economic downturn.

While he is happy to "put my hands up" and apologise to all his creditors, he says he has got to get on and live his life and while he feels regret, he is not ashamed.

Two years on from the Anglo crash Mr FitzPatrick has now spoken about his banking career, his investments, public disgrace, his arrest and his bankruptcy. In his interviews, he insists he himself is a victim.

"When people talk about ruin and losses, I am one of the biggest victims of it. I have to say that very carefully, because people would pillory me. They would say they have lost so much money. I have lost money as well. My commitment was there in pounds, shillings, and pence."

Mr FitzPatrick says he still cannot understand why he has become the face of Ireland's banking collapse.

"I had no sense of the -- what's the word -- the bitterness and the coldness and the anger and the whole sense of betrayal of this. 'F*** this, this is disgraceful, look at this guy FitzPatrick, one of the architects or one of the starters of this whole economy, look at what he has f****** done. He has f***** us all.' I had no sense of that at all, absolutely none."

Two years on and now bankrupt, he claims he is a "scapegoat" and denies ever doing anything illegal. However, referring to the transfer of his personal loans he does now admit it was "wrong in hindsight".

"What I did was wrong and it was a mistake. But it does not deserve ... the punishment that has been inflicted on me over the past two years."

On his bankruptcy he says: "I can't repay all of the liabilities that I owe (but) I didn't run and steal the money."

He speaks of "stress" and "the humiliation" and how "my whole social circle has diminished", although some friends have remained loyal.

"I have done everything that I can to make sure that the stress does not get on top of me. By and large it hasn't, but that doesn't mean that there aren't dark nights or dark mornings or dark weeks. But it was never so dark that there wasn't a light somewhere around the place.

"Friends have been good to me, ex-colleagues have been good to me. My family has been incredible. All of that has helped me get through it."

Mr FitzPatrick admits to "regret", but insists he is not ashamed of his actions.

"I am happy to put my hands up. I am very happy to apologise to all my creditors. I don't feel ashamed, but I do feel regret, very serious regret, and I am sorry that it is going to cause people losses ... But that is it. I have got to get on and live my life."

He now accepts Anglo Irish Bank's lending model created a perfect storm when property values dropped. He admits his former bank "created the monster which brought us all down" and now accepts his share of responsibility for this.

"Of course I have to accept it. But you could also argue that the regulations contributed to it. The Government, the punters, the investors."


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Boxtyeater, in a somewhat sombre mode, can confirm at 22.00 hrs. tonight, that the long-standing Fenagh incumbent of an Oireachtais seat, Senator and former TD, John Ellis will not be seeking re-election to the 31st. Dáil....
In a private conversation with Boxty within the past 20 minutes, Senator Ellis confirmed his intention to withdraw from public life as his 60th. birthday approaches. Sen. Ellis has confirmed to me that Gerry Kilrane (Mohill) is likely to carry the flag on behalf of the Leitrim end of the constituency in the forthcoming General Election...

Senator Ellis has been an Oireachtas member since 1977 (aged 25) and has served most of his tenure as a Deputy for the constituency of Sligo-Leitrim...
While there are those who may not be his greatest fans, Boxtyeater can affirm that there was no more "clued-in" deputy in Leinster House in terms of what was happening on the ground within his constituency.....It has been recorded on this forum before, that on the odd occasion that Boxty may have been "slow off the blocks" with regard to snakey corner-forwards (Stand up Timmy Faughnan, Annaduff) the bravery of a young John Ellis in the goals, rescued the day....

At this juncture, a pressing invite for one, of many I'd say, final blasts awaits, a junior Senator has been commissioned to "Round up the team"......**

**Cue 2.30am. An emotional and soundly scuttered Dauber delivering a Robert Emmet-esque oration....

Update on Saturday (evening time)...