Anglo Chairman a Feirm Favourite

6th Aug 2010

Feirm Favourites

You'd like to think that when one of the world's biggest bank collapses of all time occurs that the man or woman put in charge of said tax payers billions used to "rescue" it would spend, not necessarily every dying second, but the majority of his time monitoring the disaster that was Anglo Irish Bank. You'd at least like to know that he is fully focussed on the job.

Alan Dukes, the chairman installed by Brian Cowen's regime, and the man tasked with sorting out the biggest financial mess of all time is a judge on a reality TV show.

The chairman of Anglo Irish Bank filming a reality TV show on Patrick Street. As if Anglo's reality wasn't real enough.

Filming took place in Cork city centre on Wednesday and Dukes was spotted on Patrick Street loitering around another appropriate symbol of Celtic Tiger mania: Brown Thomas.

Plain jeans with a logo that Beckham endorses on it for €140 anyone? €800 handbag for the old doll?

The reality show Feirm Factor, is a programme for the cream of the farming community to show off their skills such as tractor driving and other skills valuable in the countryside.

Both farmers and those at Anglo Irish Bank are well used to hand outs from tax payers but to be fair farmers can't be accused of slacking off in tough times. At least we need their produce.

No so for Drimnagh's Alan Dukes. We never needed Anglo but now that we are forced to pay 22 billion euro for its unwanted rescue we, in Cork at least, would like to know the people being handed wads of cash to look after it are spending as much time as they can dealing with it.

Even the right optics would reassure the nation. You'd like if the Taoiseach had said:

"Listen Dukie, we're going to give you a dose load of tax payers cash to be chairman of this mess. We need you to look serious and businessy. so people don't freak out. Act like you're a hard working economist to reassure people their money is being well spent. Oh and don't turn up on a reality TV show though bubbila!"

So how is the Anglo recovery going? How's the ballsed up asset management coming along? Any rays of light? Working night and day to go over every action to ensure Ireland doesn't sink in its current swamp of debt? Any hope for Cork fellas and stellas on the dole?

Tune into the next series of diddly-eye Feirm Factor on TG4 to find out.

You couldn't make this stuff up.