Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society ; it changed its name in 1975 when it had just five staff. It ceased to exist when its assets, liabilities and branch network were transferred to Anglo Irish Bank .
30-623: The headquarters of Irish Nationwide were in Grand Parade, Dublin 6. The society's chairman was Danny Kitchen and its last chief executive was Gerry McGinn who succeeded Michael Fingleton in 2009. It had around 100,000 members, with a branch network throughout Ireland. It also had branches in Belfast and London in the UK , and an Isle of Man division, based in Douglas . Irish Nationwide (IOM) Ltd ("INIOM") under
60-494: A seminary , but quit before taking his vows. In the early 1960s, he joined Allied Irish Finance and simultaneously began studying commerce. On earning his degree , he went to the Dairy Disposal Agency , a state body that took over defunct creameries in the west of Ireland. During this period, he studied at night to become a chartered accountant . Following this, he joined aid agency Concern and from 1969 he spent
90-592: A different name, Permanent Bank International Ltd, remained operating in Douglas, Isle of Man. It closed down on 15 December 2017. Permanent Bank International Ltd was a wholly owned subsidiary of Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc ("PTSB") and was licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission of the Isle of Man to take deposits. PBI was a participant in the Isle of Man Depositors' Compensation Scheme as set out in
120-428: A loss of €2.5 billion for 2009 after writing off €2.8 billion in loans – almost one-quarter of its loan book. The chairman said "I don’t think it is an understatement to say that the losses are truly shocking, particularly in an undertaking the size of Irish Nationwide,". In August 2010 the building society required a €5.4 billion government bailout to stay afloat, leaving it effectively in state ownership. A letter which
150-532: A number of years organising food supplies to the Republic of Biafra , the short-lived secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria . He eventually became chairman of Concern. In 1971, he became the secretary of the Irish Independent Building Society, founded in 1873. At the time he was not a homeowner. The building society had five employees and assets of €2 million. In his first year at the helm,
180-630: A report in August 2012 following Nationwide's collapse, finding that the Financial Regulator "understood and delineated the critical INBS issues well before they caused trouble, but equally failed fully to use its powers under the [Building Societies] Act by pursuing these issues, being apparently mollified by bland assurances" and the Central Bank "did not meet standards which might be reasonably expected". Michael Fingleton Michael Fingleton
210-420: A €1.5 million loan for which Fingleton did not seek any additional security. Greene also said Fianna Fáil Senator Francis O'Brien and Senator Don Lydon were given fast-track loans of €7m and €3m The performance of the building society crashed in 2008 as bad loans spiralled. Irish Nationwide made a pretax loss of €280 million for the year, after writing off €464 million on bad loans, a 10-fold increase on
240-629: Is a former chief executive of Irish Nationwide Building Society . He joined the building society in 1971 and retired in April 2009 as the effects of the 2008–2012 Irish banking crisis became apparent. He is known as "Fingers" in the banking community. Michael Fingleton was born in Tubbercurry , County Sligo in 1938, the son of a local Garda . He attended St Nathy's school in Ballaghaderreen , and in later years UCD , TCD and Kings Inns . He attended
270-565: Is a former employee of Irish Nationwide. Tubbercurry Tubbercurry or Tobercurry ( Irish : Tobar an Choire , meaning 'well of the corrie ') is the second-largest town in terms of both population and land area in County Sligo , Ireland . It lies at the foot of the Ox Mountains , on the N17 national primary road , and is 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-west of Sligo town . The town
300-572: Is a local athletics club. There is a golf course on the town's edge, named Tubbercurry Golf Club. Other sports are also catered for including badminton, handball and karate. Tubbercurry is home to Saint Attracta's Community School, which was opened after the merger of Banada Abbey Secondary School and the Marist Convent. St. Attracta's C.S. was opened in November 2002. The town is also home to Holy Family and Drimina National Schools. Public transport to
330-575: Is twinned with Viarmes in France . Tubbercurry achieved status as a Fairtrade town in September 2008. The earliest mention of Tubbercurry is from 1397 when a battle took place in the town between two O’Connor families, the O'Conor Don from Roscommon and the O’Conor Sligo from Sligo town. St. Naithí and St Attracta are the patron saints of the area. Tubbercurry hosts three annual festivals. These include
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#1732852560503360-473: The Central Bank of Ireland received concerning the legality of the loans by the building society to Sean FitzPatrick had "gone missing". Management at Irish Nationwide used to arrange meetings with the Central Bank of Ireland for late on a Friday afternoon, knowing that their staff would not want for the encounter to last for more than an hour because it would nibble into their weekend. On 24 February 2011,
390-523: The 1980s received mortgages from the Irish Nationwide. Fingleton always stressed that these were all above board. During the 1980s, when he was at the height of his media profile, he sent journalists a Christmas card portraying himself as Santa Claus . Fingleton drew a salary of €1.3m in 2005, including a €500,000 bonus making his earnings on a par with chief executives of the larger banks. He began to look for demutualisation legislation in 2001 with
420-422: The 2007 figure. The state was eventually forced to inject €2.7 billion into the society to shore up its balance sheet and prevent the collapse of a government-guaranteed institution. In the run-up to the 2008 annual board meeting, with Fingleton approaching 70, when he would be required to retire as a director, the board considered tabling a motion that would permit him to stay on for another two years. The idea
450-514: The Building Society were reported to the Central Bank of Ireland by external accountants over a long period but did not change its behaviour", according to the management team which took over in 2010. The former head of compliance became a whistle blower by reporting "dodgy practices." Separately the vice chairman told the CBOI of his concerns in great detail, but again they did nothing. It reported
480-564: The Depositors' Compensation Scheme Regulations 2010. PTSB is registered in Ireland, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and take deposits in the name of Permanent TSB. PBI placed funds with other parts of its group and thus its financial standing was linked to that of the group. Depositors could form their own view on the financial standing of PBI, and the group, based on publicly available information. "High risk and sloppy lending practices at
510-467: The Irish Nationwide had not been approved by its credit committee, which existed only to satisfy the requirements of the Central Bank of Ireland . Fingleton said the society took "adequate provisions" in 2007 for loans to the rogue solicitors as it booked a total loan loss charge of €48.8m. By the end of 2007, Irish Nationwide had become a major financial institution with pre-tax profits of €390m for 2006 and gross assets of €16.1bn. He had managed to bring
540-580: The South Sligo Summer School of Irish traditional music, song and dance, which is held each year during the second week in July. The Old Fair Day Festival is also held annually in early August, and the Western Drama Festival is held in early March. The local Gaelic football and hurling club is Tubbercurry GAA . Real Tubber F.C. are a local association football club, and South Sligo A.C.
570-557: The branch network) were transferred to Anglo Irish Bank with immediate effect. The new merged institution was named " Irish Bank Resolution Corporation ." In making the transfer order the Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, "noted the importance of the name change for the new entity in order to remove the negative international references associated with the appalling failings of both institutions and their previous managements." Former banker and British regulator, Scott J Dobbie , prepared
600-555: The building society from sacking him in 2007, it reinforced the impression that Fingleton totally dominated the institution. In his evidence, Fitzgibbon alleged that Fingleton over-ruled his decision not to lend money to rogue solicitors Micheal Lynn and Thomas Byrne to whom the building society loaned over €10m each. Fitzgibbon went on to allege that the Nationwide's lending decisions "were entirely informal and controlled by Michael Fingleton" . Fitzgibbon also stated that many loans issued by
630-485: The change in the law coming through in August 2006. In 2007, after failed talks with Germany's HypoVereinsbank and GE Money , he almost sold the building society to Iceland's Landsbanki . Fingleton set Irish Nationwide's asset value close to €1.3 billion to reflect the equity he expected to be released from any deals. Fingleton expected to earn up to €15 million from the deal. Landsbanki who were initially attracted by Irish Nationwide's deposit book, backed off, unnerved by
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#1732852560503660-419: The company made a profit of just €12,000 and Fingleton had to wait three years for his first company car. In 1973 he was called to the bar , the same year that Dick Spring , Michael McDowell and Adrian Hardiman were also called, although he never practised as a barrister. The building society changed its name to Irish Nationwide in 1975 and began to expand. The key to its expansion was marketing, using
690-402: The deposits of Irish Nationwide were sold to Irish Life and Permanent . The building society was consequently split between its deposit book and its loan book, which was to be merged with Anglo Irish Bank In June 2011, Irish Life and Permanent itself collapsed into full state ownership. Following a court order, on 1 July 2011 all of Irish Nationwide's remaining assets and liabilities (including
720-444: The group's cost-to-income ratio down to 10pc from 14.4pc the previous year. The same year, Fingleton transferred a €27.6m pension fund from the society. As well as arranging loans for journalists, Fingleton arranged loans for other political and public figures. In December 2009, after interviewing Olivia Greene , a former home loans supervisor at Irish Nationwide, Prime Time reported that former Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy
750-533: The institution in business. Losses from 2009 of €2.5bn effectively wiped out all profits made by the society since its inception as Irish Nationwide. Fingleton received €221k in pay for the final four months of his employment, up to April 2009. This amount, calculated on an annual basis, exceeded the cap of €500k imposed by the Government for top bankers. As the depth of the society's problems became apparent, Fingleton came under public and political pressure to return
780-561: The level of the society's commercial lending. The Icelandic bank collapsed nine months later. Fingleton had a reputation as an autocrat and effectively ran a one-man lending department with loans of over €500,000 being personally approved by him. In 2002 it emerged that he had an affair with a subordinate who was provided with a £200,000 settlement after she took her case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. When Irish Nationwides home loans manager Brian Fitzgibbon sued to stop
810-530: The media to build the profile of the business. The emphasis was on the use of agents rather than opening branches. Fingleton built it up into a network of 50 branches and 40 branch agents, helped by the takeover of the Garda Building Society , Irish Mutual and Metropolitan Building Society and enacted a flexible mortgage policy in the 1980s. Fingleton cultivated relationships with the press and benefitted by receiving free publicity . Many journalists in
840-569: The €1m bonus. In April 2010, he offered to give it to charity, but this proposal was rejected by the Irish government. As of December 2010 there was no evidence that the money had been returned. Michael Fingleton is married to his wife, Eileen. They live in Shankill in South Dublin. He enjoys horse racing and frequently attends racing festivals. They have four children. Their son, Michael Fingleton jnr,
870-413: Was abandoned and Fingleton refused to stay on as the chief executive unless he was paid the same amount as in 2007, when he had received a €1m bonus. At the end of April 2009, Fingleton retired, buffeted by criticism for receiving the €1m "bonus" in 2008. He left Irish Nationwide relying on the continued support of the Irish government through the guarantee scheme to raise funding from bond investors to keep
900-415: Was loaned €1.6m for a €1.5m property by Irish Nationwide, when the building society wasn't supposed to be providing 100 per cent loans. He also provided a loan for Celia Larkin , the ex-partner of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern , without requiring any proof of income. John Mara, the son of former Fianna Fáil director of elections PJ Mara , was also named in court as having drawn down big loans, including
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