Category Archives: Misc

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Nama’s chief executive Brendan McDonagh and a letter from Michael George, managing director of Fortress Capital, to Andrew McDowell, Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s former economic adviser, at 3.04pm on February 13, 2014

Further to the appearance of Nama officials – including chairman Frank Daly, chief executive Brendan McDonagh and audit committee chair and member of Nama’s Northern Ireland Advisory Committee Brian McInery – before the Public Accounts Committee yesterday…

US investment fund Fortress was the only underbidder in Nama’s eventual sale of Northern Ireland loan portfolio, otherwise known as Project Eagle, to Cerberus.

You mayrecall the following sequence of events, as outlined in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the sale:

Nama approved a proposal to sell Project Eagle at a minimum price of £1.3bn over two meetings on December 12, 2013 and January 8, 2014.

On January 8, 2014, Lazard and Company Ltd were appointed as the loan sale advisor for Project Eagle.

On February 13, 2014, it was reported in the press that Pimco had approached Nama, back in 2013, to buy the whole Northern Ireland portfolio and, a day later, selected bidders were allowed to access information on the loans in a data room.

On March 12, 2014, Pimco withdrew from the loan sale process – after informing Nama of a  £15million success fee arrangement involving a member of Nama’s Northern Ireland Advisory Committee, Frank Cushnahan, London law firm Brown Rudnick and Belfast-based Tughans solicitors.

On April 3, 2014, Nama approved the sale of Project Eagle to Cerberus who also used the services of Brown Rudnick and Tughans solicitors.

You may also recall reports that Fortresss had to make a representation to the Department of the Taoiseach on February 13, 2014, before it was invited into the bidding process some five weeks after it had begun and Nama’s denial of the same.

During yesterday’s PAC meeting, Fine Gael TD Noel Rock had the following exchange with Brendan McDonagh.

Noel Rock: “When were Pimco initially informed there was going to be a sales competition?”

Brendan McDonagh: “Pimco were told, I think, post the board meeting in January 2014. We’ve always maintained to Pimco, that there was never going to be an exclusive off-market sale directly to them.”

Rock: “Okay. All right. Do we have the minutes for that board meeting?”

McDonagh: “Yes.”

Rock: “And it says that in it? Okay. Fortress, it was said earlier on, I don’t know if it was yourself of Frank said it, that there was no email to Enda Kenny from Fortress seeking…”

McDonagh: “None. No. There was reporting effectively that Fortress had, it was reported in the media that Fortress had to email the Department of the Taoiseach, the official Department of the Taoiseach to get access to the thing. That’s actually completely untrue. I know the managing director, senior managing director of Fortress. I met him a number of times I think in 2009 and we stayed in touch over various things. He emailed me on the 13th of February 2014. My email is available to the, there’s nothing in it. Basically saying, ‘Brendan, how’s it going?’ Talked about the rugby match at the weekend and said, ‘I just heard through one of my colleagues that the Northern Ireland portfolio may be on the market, it’s something I’d be interested in’. I forwarded the email to my colleague and said, ‘please let this guy, get Lazards to contact him because, you know, I met this guy, and I had no issue with him. I would know Fortress in my previous life. And it was, Fortress were brought, they were contacted by Lazards, I think that evening on the 13th of February. They were sent an NDA,  an non-disclosure agreement and they were sent the NDA on the 14th of February and then they didn’t return their signed NDA, because you can’t get access to the data room until you supply the NDA, they didn’t return their signed NDA until the 26th of February, I don’t know why it took them 12 days to sign it. Maybe they had to go through their own internal compliance or whatever it was but they were invited into the process, on the evening of the 13th of February, but certainly on the 14th of February when they were sent the NDA.”

Rock: “I’m familiar with your emails. I’ve seen a copy of those. On the same day though, they did email the Department of the Taoiseach. Why do you think they would have done?”

McDonagh: “There was no, I don’t know what email the Department of the Taoiseach, I haven’t actually personally seen that email…”

Rock: “I’ll forward it to the secretary so you can be provided with a copy.”

McDonagh: “But I saw the media report but I was a bit surprised by that because I had got an email from the senior managing director of Fortress on the 13th of February myself and I arranged for Lazards to get in contact.”

Rock: “Okay, all right. Thank you. In, I think it was yourself Brendan, in a previous appearance before the PAC, I’m just going to quote this here if you don’t mind: ‘We appointed Lazard, then Lazard approached the nine biggest funds in the world, the guys who would have fire power and capital to be able to buy a portfolio like this. Then you listed the nine firms, including Fortress that you said had been approached. But it obviously seems, based on the discussion of the email with the Department of Taoiseach and indeed to yourself, that it wasn’t the case that they were approached; they, in fact, had to approach you. Do you accept this quote is now inaccurate, in effect?”

McDonagh: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s inaccurate, deputy, because Fortress were one of the people which were considered to be approached by Lazard anyway so, as I said, there’s a league table in terms of, you know, people, division one, division two, division three, so as people drop out, we were pushing Lazard to get more people into the process.”

Rock: “Right. So. So, like, I’m finding this hard to understand. Did Lazard approach Fortress? Or not? If so, why did they [Fortress] need to approach you?”

McDonagh: “Well, all I can say to you, deputy, is as follows: On the 13th of February, I got an email from the senior managing director of Fortress, I got one of my colleagues to contact Lazard to say, ‘contact these guys in Fortress, find out if they’re interested or interested or not’. I don’t know personally when Lazard were going to contact Fortress or not, but I do know what happened on the 13th and 14th of February.”

Rock: “Okay.”

Letter via Mick Wallace

Related: Fortress had to apply for ‘late’ Nama sale bid (Mark Tighe, Sunday Times)

oconnellstreetgarygannon

From top: O’Connell Street, Dublin: Gary Gannon

Most Irish women avoid certain places for fear of harassment or violence.

Gary Gannon writes:

Our city isn’t safe. Since the recent spate of killings through Dublin, this has been the mantra of both the tabloids and the broadsheet media.

Crime was a major election issue, the calls for greater Garda resources ever present in early morning radio talk shows. I have spoken many times on the issue, in print media and on radio.

I’ve called for more resources for education, for community youth programmes. I’ve fought hard against a narrative which I believe demonises my hard working and vibrant city centre community.

I’ve used this column to deal with the issues of reproductive rights and violence against women before. Women’s equality is a passion of mine, and I am conscious of always trying to advocate for feminist policies as an elected public representative.

And yet, when I talk about crime, and demand long term thinking on crime prevention from our political and community leaders, I don’t mainstream gender into my thinking.

The city isn’t safe is is a mantra I fight, when discussing the Hutch-Kinehan ‘feud’, yet it is true for so many women in Dublin.

Sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in public spaces is a serious problem throughout the EU, with one in five women reporting that they have experienced sexual or physical violence since the age of 15.

Research from the EU Fundamental Rights Agenda shows us that the problem is even worse in Ireland, with one in three Irish women reporting such an experience.

Because street harassment is so prevalent, the fear of violence is ever present, with 52% of women in Ireland reporting that they avoid certain places or situations for fear of harassment or violence. This figure is the second highest in the EU.

It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to walk down the street, and never feel truly safe. And yet, that is exactly what these figures mean for the majority of women in Ireland, that their freedom to full participate in society is curtailed by a fear of violence.

A Dublin City Council report into sexual harassment in Dublin City was completed in 2015. The study findings show that sexual harassment is a frequent and distressing occurrence for women and girls in Dublin City, and captured that for many women walking the streets of Dublin, cat calling, wolf whistling, and being shouted at from cars is an everyday occurrence.

I was only made aware of this report when it was highlighted in May’s edition of ‘The Dublin Inquirer’. It has yet to be presented to City Councillors and nor has it featured as a topic on the Joint Policing Committee. In fact there doesn’t appear to have been any follow up on the findings of this report.

There exist practical suggestions in this report which if implemented could vastly improve the level of safety that many people as they engage with our city.

Improving street lighting, confronting dereliction and reorganising pedestrian spaces and parks so that they can contribute to urban safety are just of the recommendations that were made.

In addition there was also a call for a public awareness campaign expressing a zero tolerance attitude for sexual harassment on our streets.

It was also suggested that councils should take the lead in providing educational programmes for the employees of State agencies, the Gardaì and schools to make clear what exactly constitutes sexual harassment on our streets.

That men’s sexual harassment of women and girls has become normalised is indicative of a culture which allows men’s violence against women to flourish.

Throughout the recession, we have witnessed frontline violence against women services being cut to skeletal levels, with some being forced to close their doors.

As one in five women experience sexual or domestic abuse in their lifetime, we still only have one third the recommended refuge spaces for women.

Budget 2017 affords our government once again the opportunity to ringfence funding that can finally lead to the implementation of the Istanbul Convention which leaves no room for doubt; it is the obligation of the state to fully address violence against women in all its forms and to take measures to prevent it, protect its victims and prosecute the perpetrators.

In 2013, Dublin became the first city in the developed world to join the UN Women’s Safe Cities Programme. In doing so our State has already recognised the need to take much greater consideration of gender in our public and planning policy but action rather than lip service must be the culmination of this positive step.

When we talk about crime, we need to ensure that long term planning is our focus as well as crime prevention. We also need to ensure that long term thinking incorporates ways of making cities safer for women to go about their everyday life.

Gary Gannon is a Social Democrats Councillor on Dublin City Counicil for Dublin’s North Inner City. His column appears here every Friday usually before lunch. Follow Gary on Twitter: @1garygannon

Rollingnews

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Every week we give away a voucher worth TWENTY FIVE crisp EUROS to spend at any of the 13 Golden Discs stores nationwide.

All we ask if from you is a song we can play at 4pm TODAY.

This week’s theme: Protest songs.

What activist anthem brings out your social justice warrior?

To enter, please complete this sentence:

‘Should I ever storm the barricades I would like the strains of_____________________ ringing in my ears because_________________’

Lines MUST close at 3.45pm

Golden Discs

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It’s toasty.

Frilly Keane writes:

Conflict of Interest assertions seem to be at the end of a lot of finger pointing recently, myself included.

That’s not t’say it doesn’t exist but many events, and in particular the one where I was challenged myself, have me wondering does everyone really understand it enough to identify the actual conflict that might give rise to the risk.

The just shout it out and hope it sticks people, like the 13 year old that still believes in Santy or the “Peaceful Protest Peaceful Protest” shouters.

So just to make sure we all know how to identify a conflict of interest for real, I thought we could all go back to the classroom, kinda.

When I was teaching back whenever, I used “If there’s a risk of influence a conflict exists.”
In everyday life you will see this risk of influence.

And most in my experience don’t recognise it clearly enough that they can point exactly to what the specific conflict is. Even if it’s a probable risk, which most Conflict of Interest threats are.

The most common I see is Fee Influence. And this Country is riddled with it. Fees or Income or extra wedge or even the potential of that extra handy few bob, is not just the most common but it’s the most likely.

Larger big game Professional Firms quote caps on the % of Income they can accept any one Client source; yet this is managed by having another division or subsidiary bill the Client.

For example; Top Tier firm has a 6% cap on Fees from Semi State Client, but a juicy Tribunal of Inquiry comes along so the invoice comes from Top Tier Firm Consulting LTD.

The Notion here is that they are showing us that future Income generating work is not influencing them and their services, and they remain totally Independent and Transparent to any onlooker.

But in actual fact, they are not Independent and cannot promise unbiased professional opinion and services.

I don’t care how sophisticated their Chinese Wall is, if they were Independent and Transparent they would refuse the appointment.

Independence is the only weapon capable of denying all and any Conflict of Interests. This does not just apply to Big Ticket Firms. It applies to all of us.

In my game I suppose I see more of it than say a Carpenter or a Dentist. But if anyone, so that’s everyone really, is capable of being influenced, then a conflict of interest exists because Independence is denied.

If you don’t believe me, then someone answer this; have any of ye been given a heads up by your GP that they were on an all-expenses paid laa-dee-da with herself to Lanzarote? What were you prescribed again? Was it sum’ting from Pfizer’s …

What about the crowd who brokered your mortgage?

What extras besides industry standard commission did they collect from the Mortgage Bank? Golf Trips? Bonus Triggers? Cars? Are you really sure the % commission is the same as the other Mortgage providers willing to quote?

Are you sure you got the best Mortgage deal for you or for your Broker? So are you still satisfied you got the best free from bias Independent advice? Take this from me. When it comes to Commission based income, its Dog eat Dog.
Anyone remember when Ruth Dudley Edwards wrote that thing that upset the Health Services and others? And they pulled all their advertising from the Indo group? What happened next?

That’s influence. By the way; this is the Fee Influence behaviour that instantly proves Bias and Lack of Independence over there in Talbot Street, not its ownership structure.

I could go on. But one other danger area I want to flag before Golden Discs steal the day is the Professional (paid or non-paid) Board circuits.

How can anyone sitting on say, just say, The Financial Ombudsman Board, who is an employee or former employee of an institution selling financial products for profit, be seen to be Independent and Free from Influence?

While the commentary around Board gigs, the paid ones, generally poke around at the Political pals gifting gigs to the useless and their children, it’s time to lift the lid and go deeper and start connecting the dots between their day jobs and their other sources of income, that’s when you’ll see who really is the voice and direction on that particular Board seat.

Hint. Look at all the Union heads, what other boards do they sit on? Are they really independent and free from influence, and Conflict of Interest is absent (when their day 6 figure job is representing 1000’s Public Sector workers)

You tell me.

Hon’Mayhoo.

Frilly keane’s column appears here every Friday morning. Follow Frilly on Twitter: @frillykeane

Pic: Ebay