FOR Enda Kenny, Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister, the leaking of transcripts of bankers’ conversations could hardly have come at a more irritating time. On June 30th Mr Kenny’s government completed the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, during which the EU finalised its budget. Its successful stint should have helped Ireland to regain some of its lost authority in Europe.Alas, Mr Kenny’s achievement was overshadowed by the revelations of the five-year old tapes, showing executives at Anglo Irish Bank scheming to ensure that the previous government rescued the failing institution, regardless of the cost to taxpayers. A public outcry about both tone and content of the Anglo tapes ensued. The extracts, published in the Irish Independent, recounted phone conversations between bank executives as the global financial crisis unfolded in September 2008, and as Anglo struggled to stem a huge outflow of deposits.Asked by a colleague why the loan he sought was for €7 billion ($ 10.3 billion), John Bowe, then Anglo’s head of capital markets, explained that the figures were picked “out my arse”. The bail…
The Economist: Europe
