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Trichet letter and banking crisis

Summary

Senator Leyden disputes the need for an ongoing inquiry and recounts his version of the 2010 events surrounding Professor Honohan, Jean-Claude Trichet and the bailout.

It is very relevant. The ongoing inquiry is a waste of funds, given how much information is becoming public. I was with Mr. Brian Lenihan when Professor Honohan rang from Frankfurt demanding that a Cabinet meeting be called. Brian Lenihan was not the Taoiseach and could not do so. He returned to our table at that point. I know exactly how the event happened. Brian Lenihan was making a last ditch attempt to burn the bondholders, but that was refused by Mr. Trichet, who had previously indicated that he would give some concession. The Government was pushed into a bailout on 21 November. History will show what really happened. Some 58 members of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party lost their seats as a result of those events.

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