TD in Supreme Court appeal of Anglo decision

ANGLO Irish Bank was already bust when the State committed the Central Bank to ‘creating’ billions in emergency funding that the country didn’t have, the Supreme Court has been told.

Independent TD Joan Collins’s lawyers were in the court yesterday to launch an appeal against the High Court’s earlier rejection of her challenge to a decision by then finance minister Brian Lenihan to issue a €31billion promissory note, or IOU, for the benefit of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, the former Anglo, and other financial institutions.

Ms Collins’s barrister, John Rogers SC, told seven judges that Anglo was insolvent by the time the pledge was given by the late Mr Lenihan in December 2010.

In exchanges with Judge Frank Clarke, Mr Rogers said: ‘No matter if it was solvent or insolvent – give it money.’ Mr Rogers also argued that TDs were powerless to do anything about Mr Lenihan’s pledge except to make moves to ‘bring down the Government’.

Mr Rogers said that the State ‘didn’t have €3.1billion at any one point to give to Anglo’. He added: ‘It was being created in the Central Bank of Ireland. It was issuing money into Anglo on foot of our promissory note in the form of this emergency liquidity assistance.’

Ms Collins arrived at the Four Courts by taxi yesterday morning fresh from the dismissal on Wednesday of a criminal case against her for failing to comply with a garda’s direction during an anti-water meter protest.

The Independent TD for Dublin southcentral then entered the courts complex f l anked by Social Democrats co- l eader Catherine Murphy and anti-repossession campaigner David Hall. Independent TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan also attended the hearing.

It resumes on Monday, when the State will make its responding arguments.