Jerry Beades, of the New Land League, at the High Court this afternoon
Jerry Beades, of the New Land League, spoke with Rachel English briefly this morning on Morning Ireland in light of the situation regarding the O’Donnell family home in Killiney, Dublin.
The interview was wrapped up after Mr Beades claimed a PR company was hired by a bank in relation to the story.
Rachel English: “Brian O’Donnell is assisted by members of the group known as the New Land League and their spokesman Jerry Beades joins us. Good morning.”
Jerry Beades: “Good morning.”
English: “For how long is Brian O’Donnell planning on staying in the house?”
Beades: “Well, basically, Brian O’Donnell, there is no court order for Brian O’Donnell to vacate the house – that’s the first thing that’s being misreported in several sections of the media. The order was for the four children to vacate and Brian O’Donnell has a right of residency in the property and it wasn’t addressed. And these are the matters that are now being addressed in the High Court.”
English: “But if the High Court doesn’t decide in the family’s favour today, will he leave?”
Beades: “Well the action today is for the children. There’s no court orders for Brian O’Donnell to leave. So this is an issue that the bank then is going to have to address and they haven’t addressed it. And then the question is: which bank is going to address it because the wrong bank has taken the proceedings. The wrong bank has disposed of Brian O’Donnell’s assets. And, in a very shoddy way, it cost the taxpayer a fortune.”
English: “Right, well I don’t want to go through all of that now because, obviously, this is long and complex and, perhaps, here on air this morning isn’t the place to do it.”
Beades: “Correct, yes”
English: “But can I put to you the commentary, fairly widespread commentary this morning, that the New Land League is getting involved in the wrong fight here: that the O’Donnells were property speculators who came unstuck?”
Beades: “This is not about the O’Donnells. This is about the legal issues that surround what’s going on here, the same as affect every small family in Ireland. The legal issues that the bank are at here, there’s 27 Ulster Banks taken people to court and they don’t have legal titles for most of the properties. Bank of Ireland’s the same. There’s a huge legal issue here that’s not being debated whatsoever and that’s the reason the Land League is in the middle of this storm because this is an issue for Brian O’Donnell, it’s an issue for a small family with a farm around the country. There’s a half a million people facing this situation. And the Government, and the people of the country, have got to wake up, not just a single Brian O’Donnell. The legal issues that are here, the failure of the court to deal with it properly. The failure of the courts to take the wrong bank into its court room and not identify those issues.”
English: “Right. I’m sure the judges, I’m sure the judges in question would dispute that but just, again, on that question of how this looks to people out there. Certainly again, looking at this morning’s papers, reading the commentary, most people find it hard to equate the O’Donnell family with the small family farm or with the hard-pressed mortgage holder around the country.”
Beades: “Well, I mean I can’t countenance what the papers are writing. When you have a PR company hired by the bank, at taxpayers’ money, to spin a story out there – which is the wrong story – and if people want to listen to that, or want to listen to the truth, we put out a press release yesterday which sets out the issues here and if people, they’ll get it on our website, if people want to understand. The legal issues here in the O’Donnell case are the same for every family that’s resisting repossession at the moment.”
English: “So you will continue to support them then?”
Beades: “We are supporting the issues in this because it’s one of the most high-profile cases where there’s PR companies hired by banks to do in people and we’ve seen it…with Sean Quinn, the same situation.”
English: “That’s..no, no, no, no, I can’t allow you to make that accusation that a PR company is employed in such a capacity, I really, and I’ll disassociate the programme from that. You really can’t make that accusation.”
Beades: “Well, explain how all the media turned up yesterday morning?”
English: “Ok. All right, listen, we’ll leave it at that. Jerry Beades, thank you very much indeed.”
Listen back in full here
H/T: Morgan C Jones
Laura Hutton/Photocall
Brilliant, that guy can hardly string a full sentence together and appears to have no proof behind what he is saying!!
He’s right about PR companies being used to push agendas in the media. And the banks are no exception. Of course those involved in that will always deny it and actively mock those who highlight it.
I know a PR company who are retained full time to undermine political opponents of a certain political party.
Which political party, please?
You don’t need any spin on that O’Donnell story, it’s beyond spin.
You are a complete idiot
What happened to the yellow waistcoats ?
It was windy outside my gaff yesterday. When I went to the bathroom this morning there was a towel on the ground. It musta been really drafty to do that. Or maybe God got in an early shower before me…. using my water an’ all !
prob a PR company paid for by the taxpayer
“we can’t talk about the substantive issues (because they’re too complicated) and we certainly can’t talk about the banks hiring a PR company (because that would be too much like honest journalism) so please let’s just stick to me trying to ad hom you”
100% lickspittle
Rachel English reacts to a vague accusation where no names are mentioned.
Chicken sh*t RTE getting cold feet as soon as REAL news is touched upon.
She seems to freak out at the very mention of it.. almost like her bosses wife is somehow involved?!? how odd…
bunch of populist idiots.
Not doing themselves any favours, though, by making the cited press release so difficult to find. Anyone have a link to it?
hardly necessary for me to do my usual “here’s how PR really works” thing today as this is so bizarre
but for the record: every bank has a PR company full time – if not two – one for corporate serious stuff and one for consumer fun stuff. They need them because they deal with the media on a daily basis.
PR companies dont have the power to “do in” anyone. What they will do in cases like this is sit with the banks and decide what their message will be in complicated cases like this. Actually what they would prefer is that this was all handled by the courts and there wasnt a big media storm. The fact that there is is thanks to the land league types, not the banks or the PR guys!
But (and this is the important bit) the journos know that what they get from the banks’ PR people is just their side of the story. Only in the most simple cases will they just run with that. The more complex and high profile a story is the more they go digging around for the other side. The proof is that this land league guy is given a slot on the highest profile media outlet (morning Ireland) in the country. Bear in mind that the land league guys base everything they do on legally dubious misinterpretations of the law. Giving them this much prominence is being really really generous
So actually all of this shows that we do have a free and fair media – mostly
The PR companies mostly come at night, mostly.
Okay. We have several canisters of CM-20. I say we go back in there and nerve gas the whole fuckin’ nest.
“So actually all of this shows that we do have a free and fair media – mostly”
Hahah, Jesus Christ. Media is owned by powerful people to push agendas for their powerful friends or tear jerk/scare stories to sell papers!
It’s got nothing to do with fair/free just money/favours/backstabbing’s and business. 90% of the Independents front online page is just placed PR stories about Laura Whitemoor etc etc having bad hair day.
You obviously work in PR/Press and are here spinning away on an article about spinning away things. Classic!
hi bob
i used to work in PR – not anymore – no connection at all now.
you are half right – the owner of the papers use “tear jerk/scare stories to sell papers!” duh
but the powerful friends thing – its totally overblown. Not that it doesnt happen – its a small country and people know people. but the amount of stories that are influenced by the owner’s connections is tiny. Plus there is enough variety that if one outlet ignored something important the others usually pick it up.
The Independent is a FF paper and as a result they run as many anti SF stories as they can in order to stop their march to power.
I cant imagine a worst abuse of power from so called independent journalists out seeking the truth!
Margaret Thatcher got into bed with the Sun when she came to power and stayed there for man many years. This is the way of the world. Some of the stories that the Indo run would make Mugabe blush
‘Some of the stories that the Indo run would make Mugabe blush.’ – A valid point is never strengthened by silly polemic.
True – what a failed individual
There is no court order for Brian O’Donnell to vacate the house because the children claim to own it, not the parents. If the children lose the case, he has no right to be there.
Not necessarily
The right to reside in the house may well supervene the actual title
RTE and most of the newspapers have decided to paint the O’Donnells in a certain light and what is wholly absent is any reference to banking malpractice. Instead the O’Donnells are being described as ‘greedy’, ‘entitled’ and belonging to ‘the landlord class’. Caroline O’Dohertys piece in todays Examiner which was fawningly paraphrased by Ryan Tubridy on 2FM this morning is particularly vile upon which Tubridy pronounced the O’Donnells as ‘reckless’ and ‘greedy’, again without any mention of Bank of Irelands lending practices or the financial regulator.
Regardless what you might think of the O’Donnells situation, at the heart of it is a family struggling (I’m sure) under enormous pressure to hang onto their home and lives. They are clearly desperate and to have the national media pass judgement on them without any balance must make their situation even worse. Shame on RTE on Ryan Tubridy and Caroline O’Doherty. A really nasty case of kicking someone when they’re down.
I hope the O’Donnell family don’t allow the desperation of their plight to take a drastic course.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/no-burning-beamers-at-brian-odonnells-barricade-of-killiney-bay-315703.html
I used to work in Bank of Ireland Private Banking (not in the lending department but I crossed paths with the O’Donnells several times). They thought they knew everything about real estate investment and wouldn’t take any advice, no mater how well intentioned it was or even advice about jurisdictions that they had never invested in before. They were right and that was that!
The one thing I will said about BOIPB, is that the lending team and credit committee was very prudent and didn’t take a lot of risks (there were other parts of BOI that might have but not in Private Banking). I often remember clients doing “risky” investments or developments and they would be told that their loan request would not be accepted in BOIPB and to try Anglo.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that BOIPB would have ensured that there was adequate security for any loan that they granted. This would have included the subject property at the very minimum, plus personal guarantee or liens on other assets (this would have included the family home if the clients were stupid/greedy enough to use it as security). The O’Donnells (both husband and wife) were fully aware what they were doing and what they were agreeing to in the various loan documents.
It really annoys me that they have invented several ploys to try to avoid this house being repossessed by the bank e.g. creating a family trust, rights of residency etc. They made investments, the investments went bad and now they have to live with the consequences.
Top tip for you Nikkeboentje, never refer to your past employers or clients as ‘stupid’ as it makes you look unprofessional and untrustworthy
Top tip for you Francis. Never spin a story on a public board. As the truth will always come out just as Nikkeboentje has so plainly laid it out thanks to their inside knowledge.
Well, what would you call someone who was repeatedly told the consequences of what would happen to the family home if the investment went bad and they still went ahead and used the family home as security? Would you prefer if I lied? Would that make me look more trustworthy.
For your information, in the past I have told clients to their face, that they would be stupid to do/not do something in relation to an investment. Sometimes, it is the only way to make them see sense. I guarantee that every single one of my clients, if asked, would thank me for the reality check.
Tell us more Nikkeboentje about the fascinating dealings inside the private banking wing of BOI, it’s really assuaging any concern I might have about client confidentiality and the strict codes of practice you, as a banking professional hold yourself to. I’m sure your previous clients and employer would thank you for your candour on a public forum
Bank of Ireland Private Banking and the Financial Regulator did nothing wrong. I used to work in Bank of Ireland Private Banking (not in the lending department but I crossed paths with the O’Donnells several times). They thought they knew everything about real estate investment and wouldn’t take any advice, no mater how well intentioned it was or even advice about jurisdictions that they had never invested in before. They were right and that was that! They would have classified themselves as “sophisticated investors”. They used personal guarantees in order to secure a higher LTV or better interest rate on a loan for an investment property in London which they purchased for around STG£100 million. The O’Donnell’s could have gone for a non-recourse loan where the only security the bank had was on the investment property and the rental income from the property. They gambled and lost and now have to face the consequences.
The one thing I will say about BOIPB, is that the lending team and credit committee was very prudent and didn’t take a lot of risks (there were other parts of BOI that might have but not in Private Banking). I often remember clients doing “risky” investments or developments and they would be told that their loan request would not be accepted in BOIPB and to try Anglo.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that BOIPB would have ensured that there was adequate security for any loan that they granted. This would have included the subject property at the very minimum, plus personal guarantee or liens on other assets (this would have included the family home if the clients were stupid/greedy enough to use it as security). The O’Donnells (both husband and wife) were fully aware what they were doing and what they were agreeing to in the various loan documents. He was a partner in one of Ireland;s biggest law firm and she is a doctor.
It really annoys me that they have invented several ploys to try to avoid this house being repossessed by the bank e.g. creating a family trust, rights of residency etc. They made investments, the investments went bad and now they have to live with the consequences.
And the bank does not have to live with the consequences?
if you listen to the link it actually cuts off before this part.
English: “That’s..no, no, no, no, I can’t allow you to make that accusation that a PR company is employed in such a capacity, I really, and I’ll disassociate the programme from that. You really can’t make that accusation.”
someone explain that ?
Libel laws, I imagine.
but no PR company was named. where’s the libel?
“Well, explain how all the media turned up yesterday morning?”
one of yous rang em!
whats the significance of Deputy McGrath in the picture?
How much is the BOI worth to RTE in the year in sponsorship and
advertising, why did English not answer Beades question and then
terminate the interview….in effect run off when it gets too close to
the bone….irrespective of the ‘O Donnells social class strata, who in
the Banks authorised the lending of all this money for property
speculation, are they still in the employ of the banks, have the banks
being again sponsoring golf outings, did the BOI arrange one to
Spain at the weekend…..RTE might send camera crew out the
Airport to ask them how they got on and find out how much it cost.
I read the press statement that the New Land League sent out, its on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/thelandleague
Its full of freeman nonsense, claiming that the banks don’t have a license to trade
“BANK OF IRELAND PRIVATE BANKING has ADMITTED on AFFIDAVIT that it did not have a Banking Licence to Trade ”
Its a painful read.
Yesterday he was quoting Schindler in an Irish times video
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/judge-requests-details-of-events-at-o-donnell-home-in-killiney-1.2122942
Its an insult to the original Land League who were absolutely destitute.
Case is so bizarre at every level – deluded one man show, quoting freeman rubbish in an effort to keep ex-billionaire solicitor in a house that is being repossessed by a bank (rescued by taxpayers) looking to get some of the € 71 million back that he owes them. Good job the wife is a psychiatrist.
I completely agree with you that the New Land League is a complete disgrace and an insult to the original Land League. Also, in 2006 when the loan granted, all BOI loans were granted from “The Governor and Company of Bank of Ireland” and not the individual entities of the BOI group, so it wouldn’t have mattered if BOIPB had a banking licence or not as the actual contract with the O’Donnells (or more than likely a Special Purpose Vehicle set up specifically to hold this asset) would have been with the “The Governor and Company of Bank of Ireland”.
I LOVE google!
Turns out that Mr. Beades, “Fianna Fail activist and developer Mr Beades” owed €3.5 million to Ulster Bank.
He disputed this, arguing that Ulster Bank was an entity that no longer existed.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/developer-jerry-beades-opposes-35m-judgment-29404086.html
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/developer-jerry-beades-to-appeal-as-ulster-bank-wins-35m-judgment-29650472.html
And he lost his own case of banks re-possession recently too.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/beades-loses-case-over-repossessions-1.1998419
So another indebted property developer is defending another using the same bizarre arguments.
He also sued another bank (ACC?) Over a missing property deed.
He has no friends in the finance community
So why insolvent debtors throw their lot in with him is a mystery
People need to wake up to the “debt write off agenda”. Most of the arrears is commercial/BTL. Giving write downs means that landlords will be getting debt relief paid for by their tenants. What’s more, they want to keep the assets too.
All the NLL goons behind this are up to their eyeballs in property debt and want YOU to pay it for them.
i have a pain in me lady garden with all these greedy people and their bleating after the capitalist system crashed. The O’Donnells gambled and lost and they and their ilk were underpinning the ‘greed is good’ ethos of the celtic tiger. if the goombah put up the family home as security on a loan then the (adult) children should be baiting seven shades of poo out of him for being a gobplop.
thats the thing with this new breed of so called capitalists – gamble big and if you win you win big, if you lose sure we can get someone else to pick up the tab.
broadsheet – your edits are better than my original . “gobplop” , love it.
Great post, Joxer.
Is it?
It sounds like typical Irish begrudgery to me.
Constant Markievicz is rolling in his grave.
constantly I’d say
This is like a story line from the latest Ross O’Carroll Kelly book.
Jerry Beades is no one t’be talking about the use of PR.
He’s no stranger to the camera himself
And never refused a live mic
And he’s not the only property banks meltdown rabble rouser giving it loads
When the cameras are on
And if he’d an arse left in any of his pants he’d be buying in PR services too.
If there was no interest or media up in Gorse hill
He wouldn’t be their either
A loudmouth
And he’s not the only one
Odd interview. Sounds like a completely useless interviewer.
If the transcript is true then the interview has been edited on the player.
It now goes like this at the end:
“Beades: “We are supporting the issues in this because it’s one of the most high-profile”
English: “Ok. All right, listen, we’ll leave it at that. Jerry Beades, thank you very much indeed.”
Maybe he said something libelous that got caught by the seven second (or whatever it is) delay when ‘live’ but they had to go back and edit the whole thing out?
I see O Donnell is still there. If he’s trespassing why has he not been arrested already?