Only Cowen can put flesh on the bones of banking inquiry

World of Politics with Harry McGee – harrymcgee@gmail.com

From the moment of its conception, the idea of a banking inquiry was controversial. And why would it not be? It was part and parcel of the manifestos of both Fine Gael and the Labour Party and was included in the Programme of Government.

There was never a sliver of doubt that the one political party that would be on the backfoot in any inquiry would be Fianna Fáil, which was in the wheelhouse when the economy hit the rocks.

The reality was that some form of an independent inquiry was needed. Sure there had been three inquiries including Frederick Nyberg’s Commission of Investigation (which I believe told us all we needed to know).

But these were commissioned by the Government that had caused the crash and, no matter how brilliant they were, there would always be a political shadow cast over them.

There were some outstanding questions that had not been answered – and, in my opinion, may never be.

Most of them revolve around the famous night of the bank guarantee in the autumn of 2008 when the Government gave blanket protection to five ‘systemically important’ banks. These included Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide – whose ultimate role in the system was to collapse it.

From the start, Fianna Fáil – and to a lesser extent, the Greens – claimed that any inquiry set up by the Coalition would be a political show-trial.

Indeed, some of the comments from leading Fine Gael and Labour politicians at the time of the 2011 election, and afterwards, suggested the outcome would be sackcloth and ashes for Fianna Fáil.

Sure, some politicians on the government side were motivated politically and if the inquiry were to make a whipping boy of Fianna Fáil, so much the better.

That said, there were many unanswered questions left hanging from the decade of excess that required addressing. On balance, there was a public desire for a fuller and more public inquiry, even though it would probably prolong Fianna Fáil’s time in political purgatory.

It was essential, therefore, to maintain independence the inquiry take place as soon as possible into the new Government’s term. There was no point is starting hearings almost on the eve of the next election because then it would be no more than a nakedly political exercise refreshing people’s memories about the last time Fianna Fáil was in power.

Unfortunately, that is the way it has almost turned out to be, by accident as much as by design.

Howlin, the Minister for Public Reform, did try to move quickly. The Government wanted it to be a parliamentary inquiry rather than a Tribunal (too long and much too costly) or a Commission of Investigation (that’s what Nyberg was).

But there was a difficulty. A previous parliamentary inquiry into the shooting by Gardaí of John Carthy in Abbeylara, Co Longford, had come to a sudden halt after a successful High Court challenge.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.