Ansbacher: interview gems ;-)

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday July 08, 2002 10:08 by kahootz

€25.40, 10,000 pages, weighing 25 kgs but here are the interview gems according to the Irish Times

"I am bewildered by the revelations about Des Traynor in the last couple of years because that is not the man that I knew as a colleague, I have to say that. I really am bewildered, he just fooled us all."
Jim Culliton in his interview with the inspectors.

Inspector: "I see. Aside from this deposit account, which, as you now appreciate, became an Ansbacher account..."
Dr Maurice Neligan: "To my horror sir, yes."
The leading heart surgeon's feelings about being an Ansbacher account-holder
"He was an incredible man for moving money around anywhere he felt like."
The late Gerald Hickey, former chairman of Hickey Beauchamp O'Reilly solicitors, on Des Traynor

"People gave him millons, as you know. Everybody had complete confidence in him. He was regarded as a totally honest man and also as a totally able man."
Mr Hickey tells the inspectors about the Des Traynor he knew

"He was a very engaging man."
Sir Derek Birkin on Des Traynor

Mr Vincent Ferguson: "Is it apropriate for me to say something about my relationship with Dr O'Reilly?"
Mr Justice Costello: You were a friend of Dr O'Reilly. You were close friends, is that right?"
Mr Ferguson: That's right...well I was also a very special business confidant.
Mr Justice Costello: "Yes?"
Mr Ferguson: "In the sense that I introduced him to Heinz."
Mr Justice Costello: "Yes?"
Mr Ferguson: And I originiated the Fitzwilton investment."
Mr Justice Costello: "I see."
Mr Ferguson: Which enabled him to buy the Independent Newspaper group".
Mr Justice Costello: "Yes?"
Mr Ferguson: "He regarded me as one of the cornerstones of his successful career."
Mr Justice Costello: "Of his career?"
Mr Ferguson: "So, you know, I just wanted to make that point clear."
Mr Justice Costello: "Yes."
Mr Ferguson: "That he feels he owes me a lot."
Mr Justice Costello: "Yes. Very well. We understand."
Businessman, Vincent Ferguson, tells Mr Justice Costello, about his relationship with Dr Tony O'Reilly

"It took me some years to join Lloyds.... Bob Waldron said to me, 'if you want to, and you must do this, have an offshore Trust because there are no stop loss and you and your family could end up bankrupt.
" You must do what most people are doing and that is have an offshore Trust'."
Ken O'Reilly-Hyland in his interview with the inspectors.

"I said 'By the way Sam, I don't know, but I believe I still may have an account and it was opened with Mr Traynor. Do you know how these things worked?"
Tony Barry tells the inspectors about a discussion he had with Sam Field-Corbett after Des Traynor's death.

"I have to say that I was delighted, honoured and flattered to be getting advice from and giving advice to and participating with the likes of Liam McGonagle, Des Traynor, John Guinness and Guinness & Mahon. I felt that I was in very good company and Mr Traynor was regarded as Dublin's leading financial light at the time."
John Finnegan, in his statement to the Inspectors.
"He was a remarkable fellow".
John Byrne on Mr Traynor

"I have a vague recollection of doing something. I have a vague recollection. I am just responding with my vague recollection."
Paul Carty, Deloitte & Touche partner, in an interview with the inspectors.
"I think he [Des Traynor] was a very ordinary person but in my terms he intimidated me about money and my lack of knowledge of the financial world."
Architect Arthur Gibney in his evidence to the Inspectors

"He was a man of very few words. He never explained anything and I went to him looking for money and he said 'I can get you a loan'... I felt he had been extremely generous to me. He had helped me at a time when I was virtually bankrupt and I treated him with great respect."
Arthur Gibney
"Mr Traynor was a man you could not approach everyday, or ring up everyday like that."
Seamus Purcell in his evidence to the Inspectors
"I understood the Cayman Islands was a kind of lump of sand in the middle of the Pacific."
Sam Stephenson in his interview with the Inspectors.

"The only occasion I remember him [Des Traynor] giving me a piece of paper with a figure on it was when we were celebrating the result of the Fitzwilliam deal. There was a dinner party and he was informing everybody of what their share of the profit would be, and I think he scribbled it on a piece of paper. I had about £110,000."
Sam Stephenson remembering Traynor's modus operandi.

"God, these are some characters..".
What John Byrne said when Des Traynor and Jack Stakelum did an audit on the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee by staying up all night to complete the task in one go.