Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore expressed his relief today that the Anglo tapes did not emerge when Ireland was in debt-deal negotiations with European authorities.
Minister Gilmore said difficult talks on the controversial promissory note earlier this year – which saw costly IOUs from the nationalisation of Anglo swapped with long term sovereign bonds – could have been jeopardised.
“I believe that if the revelations in those tapes had been public at that time, I believe it would have very, very seriously damaged and compromised our ability to land that deal at the time,” the Tánaiste said.
But he added that the damage done to Ireland’s reputation must not be exaggerated, because people in Europe see the distinction between events five years ago and efforts being made now by the Government.
“I think the tapes show people, in this country and internationally, what we’ve had to deal with and I think we’ve got a lot of credit as a country for dealing with the crisis and for taking action to deal with it,” he added.
There has been international media coverage of the revelations that emerged in the Anglo tapes.
German newspapers have taken particular offence to Anglo executive John Bowe’s rendition of 'Deutschland Uber Alles' – which included lines from the country’s national anthem that have been removed for a long time.
A journalist for the usually conservative broadsheet newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote that bankers and members of the Irish Government should be put in a sack and beat with a stick until their screams can no longer be heard.