Noonan had information to stop dodgy Project Eagle sale

3 6 April 2016

sn’t it nothing sort of remarkable that the

Irish Independent failed to explore the

extraordinary role played by Michael

Noonan and his ofﬁcials in the Department

of Finance in the Project Eagle affair until

just after the votes were counted in the Febru-

ary election?

While the newspaper had covered the story

over several months it found space on its front

page for an exploration of Noonan’s role only

after the election results were in, and partisan

energy had considerably dissipated.

This followed the publication of a report by

the Stormont ﬁnance committee into the Project

Eagle affair which, as Village has revealed over

several months, contributed directly to the res-

ignation of Peter Robinson as ﬁrst minister and

DUP leader late last year. The committee report

expressed concern at Noonan’s willingness to

ignore embarrassing information about contro-

versial fee payments of which he was informed

and instead of halting the bidding process

instructed NAMA to proceed with the disposal

of the massive residential and commercial loan

portfolio.

In early 2014, NAMA was informed by Pimco,

a US fund bidding for the £4 billion (€6.5 billion)

property portfolio that it had been asked for a

£15 million success fee to be divided between

US law ﬁrm Brown Rudnick, Belfast solicitors

Tughans and a member of the agency’s advisory

committee in Northern Ireland, Frank Cushna-

han, in connection with the Project Eagle tender.

NAMA informed Noonan of this irregular and

enormous side-payment request but, instead of

halting the process, the ﬁnance minister sug-

gested that the largest sale of property assets

in the history of the state should proceed.

Pimco withdrew from the process on the instruc-

tions of its compliance ofﬁcers in the US.

Another giant US fund, Cerberus, subse-

quently purchased the portfolio for £1.2 billion

(€1.6 billion) later that year before it emerged

that in excess of Stg£6 million (€7 million) had

been lodged by lawyers acting for it in an Isle of

Man account. The money was lodged by then

Tughans partner, Ian Coulter and, according to

Mick Wallace TD, was intended for Cushnahan

and others including, it has been alleged, a

leading politician or party.

In February last, the BBC Spotlight pro-

gramme broadcast a secret recording in which

Cushnahan admitted that he was due a signiﬁ-

cant fee from the Cerberus deal, contradicting

previous claims that he was not due to receive

any money. Cushnahan, a former adviser in

Robinson’s ofﬁce of NI First Minister, also

claims he and Coulter had put the Cerberus deal

together but his role was kept secret from

Nama.

On top of these claims it has now emerged

that a senior executive from Fortress, the under-

bidder against Cerberus in the deal, met

Cushnahan and Ronnie Hanna, then NAMA head

of asset recovery, in December 2012 to discuss

the agency’s Northern Ireland loan-book some

12 months before it was put up for open sale.

Cushnahan left the NI advisory board of NAMA

in late 2013 while Hanna resigned from NAMA

in late 2014, six months after the sale to Cer-

berus was completed.

Mike George, the managing director of the US

private equity group, a Belfast man, made a

presentation to the NAMA pair at the Tughans

ofﬁce in Belfast during the December 2012

meeting. NAMA has refused to respond to

queries over this latest revelation which puts a

former senior NAMA executive in a room along-

side a former advisor to the agency who has

admitted to seeking side payments from the

enormous sale.

George refused to conﬁrm that such a meet-

ing took place when contacted by Village last

autumn but said he was concerned about the

manner in which the Project Eagle sales process

was conducted, indicating that some bidders

had access to more information than others on

the quality and value of the huge portfolio of

distressed assets across the North.

Can anyone seriously suggest that Michael

Noonan is suitable to have have his tenure as

ﬁnance minister renewed in a new government

while questions surrounding his judgement and

actions in the Project Eagle controversy remain

unanswered?

Noonan had information

to stop dodgy Project

Eagle sale

NAMA informed Noonan of the side-payment

request but, instead of halting the process,

he allowed the largest sale of property assets

in the history of the state to proceed.

by Frank Connolly

POLITICS

NAMA has refused to

respond to queries over

this latest revelation

which puts a former

senior NAMA executive in

a room alongside a former

advisor to the agency who

has admitted to seeking

side payments from the

enormous sale