Fingleton’s self-serving impudence knows no bounds

ONE of the few rules of thumb I swear by is that anyone who refers to themselves in the third person should never be trusted.

It is not the most sophisticated theory, granted, but it has served me well enough over the years.

Even a quick search of the internet suggests that people who use their own name when speaking about themselves are at the very least likely to have a grossly inflated opinion of their own importance.

So it was with no great surprise when I saw former Irish Nationwide boss Michael Fingleton being quoted as referring to himself as, well, ‘Michael Fingleton’ over the weekend. The fact that he did so in a sickeningly self- serving newspaper interview only made it worse.

Reports elsewhere revealed that The Artist Formerly Known As Fingers was spotted in the precincts of the K Club in recent days. This would be the same establishment where he racked up a bill of €48,000 on the Irish Nationwide tab during his final years in charge. Following his bullish appearance at the Banking Inquiry, it would have been nice if Fingers had mustered up the good grace to crawl back under whichever rock he emerged from.

Same as expecting him to take responsibility for his actions, however, that was obviously too much to ask for.