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THE IRISH TIMES
Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, 2009 ¤2 (incl. VAT) £1.20 Northern Ireland.

WITH COMPLIMENTS
NewsDigest
Korea standoff not crisis, says US
Tensions over North Korea rose again yesterday as Chinese fishing boats were seen
pulling away from its coast, but US secretary of defence Robert Gates said the situation
was not a crisis: page 12

Ganley’s Euro hopes fade but Joe Higgins enters reckoning
THE IRISH TIMES
POLL
STEPHEN COLLINS, Political Editor A FIERCE contest is developing for the third European
Parliament seat in Dublin with Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party now in the reckoning
along with Eoin Ryan of Fianna Fáil and Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin, according
to the latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll. Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael and Proinsias
De Rossa of the Labour Party seem assured of taking the first two seats in the capital.
Libertas founder Declan Ganley has made no headway since the last poll two weeks
ago and appears to be out of the reckoning in the North West constituency. The Labour
Party is set to gain a seat from Fine Gael in the East constituency following significant
gains by Nessa Childers over the past two weeks. In Munster the Independent MEP,
Kathy Sinnott, has made a comeback and appears to be in a good position to head off
the challenge of Labour’s Alan Kelly. In party terms, Fine Gael is set to lose
one of its current five seats, Fianna Fáil is in danger of losing one of its four
while Labour is set to double its tally from one to two. The Sinn Féin seat is in
danger while the Greens don’t look strong enough to make a comeback to the European
Parliament. The leading vote-getter in the poll, which was conducted with mock ballot
papers, is Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil, who is closely followed by Maireád McGuinness
and Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael. The poll was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday of
this week among a representative sample of 2,000 voters. Face-to-face interviews
were conducted with 500 people in each of the four Euro constituencies. The margin
of error is 2 per cent. Declan Ganley of Libertas is stuck on just 9 per cent of
the first-preference vote in the North West constituency and has shown no improvement
since the last poll. Pat “The Cope” Gallagher of Fianna Fáil, with 20 per cent,
leads the field in the constituency, followed by Independent Marian Harkin, on 19
per cent, and Jim Higgins of Fine Gael, on 17 per cent. The second Fine Gael candidate,
Joe O’Reilly, has gained 2 points to

Civil servants could lose their privilege days
The Government has proposed abolishing special privilege days off given to civil
servants at Christmas and Easter. It also wants to end the fortnightly half-hour
off to allow them cash pay cheques: page 8

MARY LOU McDONALD

NESSA CHILDERS

DECLAN GANLEY

BRIAN CROWLEY

Taoiseach to meet victims and orders next week
PATSY McGARRY and MARK HENNESSY TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen last night sent out letters
of invitation to groups representing former residents of institutions run by religious
congregations to meet the Government in Dublin next Wednesday. Similar invitations
to meet the Government next Thursday were sent by him last night to the 18 congregations
which ran the institutions. Invitations have been sent to the Right of Place, Right
to Peace, Alliance Victims’ Support, SOCA UK, SOCA Ireland, Aislinn, Survivors
of Institutional Abuse (SOIA) and the Irish Survivors of Institutions, International
groups. In Dublin yesterday, all 18 of the relevant religious congregations issued
a joint statement after a meeting at which they repeated that they were “available
to meet with An Taoiseach to explore the most effective and most appropriate ongoing
response to former residents of institutions”. Ten of the congregations had said
much the same last Wednesday in response to the Taoiseach’s announcement the previous
evening that he would seek a meeting with them to discuss “what further steps will
now be taken in light of what has been stated in, and the conclusions of, this [Ryan]
report.” There will be “a silent march of solidarity” with former residents
of the institutions in Dublin at noon on Wednesday, June 10th, from Parnell Square
to the Dáil, where wreaths will be laid “in memory of the living and dead” of
the institutions. Reports: pages 6 and 7; Editorial Comment: page 17

NO CHANGE

HomeNews
Weekend events: The bank holiday weekend calendar includes Bloom garden festival
at the Phoenix Park, the 27th Flora Women’s Mini Marathon and the Dublin maritime
festival: page 3 Guilty verdict: Noel Cawley (47) was found guilty of robbing and
killing Christy Hanley (83) in Westmeath last year. Mr Hanley, who was well-known
at fairs and races and often carried large amounts of cash, was tied up and beaten
to death in his home: page 2 Sympathy visit: DUP First Minister Peter Robinson and
Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness together visited the bereaved
family of sectarian murder victim Kevin McDaid: page 8

BusinessNews
Loans fall: The value of outstanding mortgage loans fell for the first time last
month as the pace of repayments outstripped new lending: page 19 Illegal loans: Director
of Corporate Enforcement Paul Appleby expressed concern about a fourfold increase
in illegal loans by Irish directors: page 18

DUBLIN
AT 9%, JOE HIGGINS NOW IN RUNNING FOR FINAL SEAT
10 per cent, with a massive share of the vote in his native Cavan and the surrounding
counties, while Sinn Féin candidate Pádraig MacLochlainn has slipped back to 9
per cent. The likely winners in North West are Mr Gallagher, Mr Higgins and Ms Harkin.
In Dublin, Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael leads the field with 28 per cent, followed by
Proinsias De Rossa of the Labour Party with 25 per cent. There is a big gap between
them and the chasing field, which is led by Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin, on 11
per cent, followed by Eoin Ryan and Joe Higgins on 9 per cent each. Deirdre De Búrca
of the Greens is next on 6 per cent, followed by former Green Patricia McKenna, who
has slipped back to 5 per cent, the same as Eibhlín Byrne of Fianna Fáil. Caroline
Simons of Libertas is on 2 per cent. The transfers from the weaker candidates will
determine who wins the three-way contest for the final seat.

EAST
LABOUR SET TO TAKE FINE GAEL’S SECOND SEAT
In the East constituency the surge in support for Labour candidate Nessa Childers
appears to have put paid to Fine Gael’s chances of holding two seats. Maireád
McGuinness will hold her seat for Fine Gael, while Liam Aylward of Fianna Fáil also
looks assured of holding his seat. In the South constituency, Brian Crowley of Fianna
Fáil has improved his position at the head of the field with 30 per cent, followed
by Seán Kelly of Fine Gael, with 16 per cent. Both are almost certain of election.
Independent MEP Kathy Sinnott has gained two points since the last poll and is in
with a good chance of holding off Labour’s Alan Kelly, who has dropped back a point
to 12 per cent. Transfers from Toireasa Ferris of Sinn Féin and Colm Burke of Fine
Gael will be critical in determining the fate of the last seat. Election coverage,
pages 6-7; Damian Loscher: Analysis, page 10; Editorial Comment, page 17

NORTH WEST
AT 19%, MARIAN HARKIN TIGHTENS GRIP ON HER SEAT

SOUTH
AT 14%, KATHY SINNOTT LEADS FIELD FOR FINAL SEAT

WorldNews
Spector sentenced: Eccentric music producer Phil Spector (69) was given a sentence
of 19 years to life in prison yesterday for the second-degree murder at his home
in 2003 of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson (40) after a second trial: page 13 MP
defiant: Leading Tory Eurosceptic Bill Cash vowed he would not quit parliament after
the revelation that he used his “second home” expenses to pay his daughter rent
on a London flat: page 11

Mannix Flynn: Books
Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany will now have the company of the Irish Church
State, a brutal regime that perpetrated acts of unimaginable horror on its most vulnerable
children. Weekend Review

SportsWeekend
Rugby: The Royal XV will test the Lions’ mettle as the tourists begin their South
African tour with the first onfield test of Paul O’Connell’s captaincy. Soccer:
Robbie Keane scored as a makeshift Ireland team drew 1-1 with Nigeria in preparation
for a vital World Cup qualifier away to Bulgaria next Saturday.

State gives ¤4bn to Anglo but bank may need ¤3.5bn more
ARTHUR BEESLEY and LAURA SLATTERY ANGLO IRISH Bank has said it may require additional
capital of up to ¤3.5 billion from the Government to help it bear the cost of a
sharp escalation in bad loans even after it receives the ¤4 billion promised yesterday
by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan. Support of that scale would bring the total
Government cost of recapitalising Anglo, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Bank of Ireland
(BoI) to ¤14.5 billion. AIB and BoI have already received ¤3.5 billion from the
State. Mr Lenihan believes BoI will not require more capital when its loans move
to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), but has not made any findings in
respect of AIB. Anglo, whose affairs are under Garda and regulatory investigation,
incurred a pretax loss of ¤4.1 billion in the six months to March as the value of
land and development assets plummeted. While taking a ¤4.1 billion impairment charge,
Anglo said that the level of “past due” and “impaired” loans rose to ¤23.6
billion in March from ¤2.5 billion in September. “In my view, it is a disgrace
that this bank evolved into the institution it did,” Mr Lenihan said. Anglo executive
chairman Donal O’Connor said it was clear that the bank made mistakes in some of
its lending in recent years, particularly in relation to property. Fine Gael finance
spokesman Richard Bruton said international investors must accept losses on loans
to Anglo before the recapitalisation. He said Anglo should be “wound up in an orderly
manner” to protect taxpayers, but Mr O’Connor and Mr Lenihan said a wind-up would
cause greater damage. “If you close it down, ¤64 billion in customer and interbank
deposits would be called into question,” Mr Lenihan said. Anglo wrote off ¤308
million from “golden circle” loans made last year to 10 clients to fund their
purchase of a big stake in the bank in an effort to prevent a further collapse in
its share price. It wrote off ¤31 million on loans to former directors but declined
to name them. Pending EU approval for the recapitalisation, the Financial Regulator
temporarily waived strict rules that require Anglo to maintain a certain amount of
capital. “The ¤4 billion is obviously a major step to putting the bank on a firmer
footing and everyone in the bank is obviously very grateful to the Government and
the taxpayer for that,” Mr O’Connor said. While this will enable Anglo to bear
potential losses of ¤7.5 billion, the bank said it might incur further impairments
of ¤1.5 billion to ¤3.5 billion when loans go to Nama. Assuming no other change,
its capital would have to be replenished to bear such losses. Anglo put its audit
contract to tender, but said it has not sacked current auditors Ernst & Young. Anglo
warns potential losses could soar to ¤7.5bn: page 18

Weather
There will be sunny periods today, with an isolated shower in the northwest. Temperatures
will reach 22 degrees. Winds will be mostly southeasterly: page 24
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Index
Home ..............2-10 World .............11-13 Obituaries ..........14 Opinion
..........15-16 Letters ...............17 Finance ........18-20 Sudoku................25

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Volume No. 48228.

Saturday, May30, 2009