Doherty: Jail the rogue bankers
Sinn Fein planning tough new law against reckless trading
PEARSE Doherty has described Leo Varadkar as cocky, arrogant and a politician who “just doesn’t get it” when it comes to the problems Irish people face.
The Sinn Fein man’s comments come after party leader Mary Lou Mcdonald called the Taoiseach “smarmy” and “smug” – after he referred to her as “cranky” on the floor of the Dail.
Mr Doherty said although he doesn’t know the Taoiseach personally, he said he is out of touch with ordinary people.
He added: “[Mr Varadkar] can be very arrogant. I think he doesn’t get it, he just doesn’t get it. I don’t know Leo. I know many people in all the other political parties but I don’t know him.
“But from this distance I think he needs to read about what it is really like.
“He’s good scripted but sometimes he’s a bit cocky.
“But when you take the script away from him and when he’s left exposed, he’s left without that protection, he exposes himself that he just doesn’t understand ordinary Ireland.” SINN Fein’s deputy leader Pearse Doherty believes we will have a united Ireland by 2025.
He said it is an inevitable outcome with his party pushing hard for progress.
This contrasts with the latest comments from Simon Coveney who last week said this kind of talk from Sinn Fein while the Brexit crisis rumbles on is unhelpful.
He added the issue is “off the table” while the UK’S withdrawal from the EU isn’t yet finished.
Mr Doherty said: “What we want to see is a border poll within five years. I think five years is too long but that’s the time frame. The train has left the station.
“The question now is when will that train arrives at its destination.”
The Irish Mirror asked Mr Doherty if 2025 would be a reasonable target for this arrival, and he replied: “I would hope to see a united Ireland before that.”
Therefore, he said the conversations with all sides, north and south, need to commence now. PEARSE Doherty wants to jail rogue bankers under new legislation Sinn Fein are proposing that will hold them to account.
The opposition party’s finance spokesman said it is proposing the new laws this New Year because the Government “don’t seem to care”.
There was huge public anger last month when a senior banker who was at the heart of the huge losses of €5.4billion – paid by the taxpayer – at Irish Nationwide was only fined €23,000.
Mr Doherty also wants the code of practice on mortgages made compulsory – currently only voluntary.
His party will kickstart this in the New Year with a national roadshow where it will call on support for a “no consent, no sale” policy in relation to the sale of mortgages by vulture funds.
On the issue of the reckless bankers that brought the country to its knees during the recession and have gotten away scot-free, he wants them individually punished in the future.
Mr Doherty said: “You’re not going to it is get any culture change until you hold individual bankers to account as opposed to fining the institutions.
“The Central Bank put forward a proposal over a year and a half ago which is that banks and senior personnel will have to map out the areas of responsibilities they have and therefore, say, John Gallagher, or Mary Malone, they will have responsibility for A , B and C.
“And if something happens in A, B or C, then Mary Malone or John Gallagher is held responsible and accountable for that.
“That you cannot use a defence that, it wasn’t me, it was somebody below me, or, that it was the system that was responsible.”
Mr Doherty wants to make this the basis for legislation he will propose in the Dail if the Government doesn’t move.
He added: “What’s happened here is the legislation hasn’t been progressed by Government. We’ve questioned the
James Connolly painting in Sinn Fein office
Mr Doherty & Mirrorman Ferghal
DUBLIN YESTERDAY
Finance Minister on what is holding up such legislation and we’re waiting back for a response.
“I think when it comes to issues around this type of individual responsibility or responsibility within the banks, it’s not high on the priority list of Government.
“But it’s our intention to make sure it does happen as a priority this year.
“We want to see that reckless conduct and reckless lending is a crime.
“We raised this with the Taoiseach last month and his response was, ‘Oh, I don’t know if that would work’, or whatever.
“But it’s already in place in Britain, it’s already called for by the Central Bank four or five years ago really and it’s one of these things that is still not a crime despite all we’ve seen.”
When pressed by the Irish Mirror as to what the punishment for this new crime should be, he said the ultimate sanction would be “imprisonment”.
Mr Doherty added: “A banker who’s involved in reckless conduct in a financial institution should face jail.
“It will make it a crime so it will have a criminal sanction.”
Amount banker was fined during the Irish Nationwide scandal
It’s our intention to make sure it happens as a priority this year PEARSE DOHERTY