Public deserves to hear Irish Nationwide proceedings

On Tuesday, in the full glare of the public and media, former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm was granted bail by Judge Michael Walsh, subject to a number of conditions.

Drumm had to bide his time while cases connected to petty criminals and miscreants were dealt with by the Dublin District Court. He will appear back in court on April 8th although he might not go to trial until the second half of 2017.

In a different courtroom upstairs, former Anglo executives Tiarnan O'Mahony and Bernard Daly were having their convictions for conspiracy to defraud revenue and falsify records quashed at the Court of Appeal. Again, this was open to the public and media.

Both of these cases were heard in the Criminal Courts of Justice building near the Phoenix Park.

At some point on Wednesday, a three-person panel – chair Marian Shanley, Ciara McGoldrick and Geoffrey McEnery – dealing with an inquiry into Irish Nationwide Building Society will meet in private. It's their second such meeting behind closed doors since the panel was established last year. The first was in December.

I can't tell you where they are meeting or at what time because the Central Bank of Ireland, which established the inquiry after its own investigation into matters relating to the collapse of Irish Nationwide, wouldn't tell me. It seems the location is a secret. As the body responsible for financial regulation, the Central Bank is a participant in the inquiry's work so the panel is conducting its business at arm's length to the Dame Street-based institution. However, the Central Bank is providing support staff to the panel's work and notices of its hearings are published on the regulator's website. In effect, you have to go through the Central Bank to get to the panel but it can't tell you an awful lot about its workings. It's all a bit Irish really.

In the inquiry guidelines, prescribed pursuant to section 33BD of the Central Bank Act 1942, it is stated that hearings - including any inquiry management meetings such as is being held today – will “usually be held in public”.

‘Confidential nature’

A hearing may only be held in private in certain circumstances. These include by agreement with the regulated entity, or in situations where evidence may be given during the inquiry that is of a “confidential nature or relates to the commission, or the alleged or suspected commission, of an offence against a law of the State”.

It may also sit in private if a person’s reputation would be “unfairly prejudiced”.

That’s a lot of caveats and it is not hard to imagine that some former management of Irish Nationwide will use them to avoid having their linen washed in public.

Otherwise, the media and public will be able to “watch and listen to the proceedings in a public gallery located within the inquiry room or adjacent to it”. Presumably, they’ll declassify the location of the hearings in advance. We can only assume that today’s meeting falls into one of the categories listed above. My understanding is that it will deal with administrative matters.

What we do know is that this inquiry is dealing with the roles of various individuals. Last July, the regulator settled a case against the company, which admitted to multiple breaches of financial services law and regulation following a five-year investigation. A fine of €5 million was levied but not collected as the building society had no assets at the time .

In terms of the administration of justice, the Irish courts have loosened many restrictions that applied to the reporting of certain proceedings. For example, media are now allowed in to family law cases, subject to certain restrictions.

The Oireachtas banking inquiry held its hearings with witnesses in public, with live coverage streamed on its website and broadcast on television. The committee's own meetings were held in private session.

Time will tell as to how much of this Irish Nationwide inquiry will be held in public but the panel should be mindful that the public is already deeply cynical about such matters following the outcomes of the banking inquiry and various legal cases relating to Anglo Irish Bank.

Irish Nationwide was nationalised at a cost of €5.4 billion to the State. Taxpayers would like to know who was to blame for this, which is why this inquiry’s work is so important. And why it should be held in public. Twitter: @CiaranHancock1