Protest Against the Anglo Promissory Note Stitch up: Bank of Ireland AGM, June 18th, Dun Laoghaire

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PROTEST AGAINST THE ANGLO PROMISSORY NOTE STITCH UP: BANK OF IRELAND EGM

ROYAL MARINE HOTEL, DUN LAOGHAIRE

MONDAY 18th JUNE,

From 8.30 – 9.30am on Monday, there will be a protest outside the EGM at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoighre.  The Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign will set up a stall where an actor dressed as a clown will move the promissory note and the loan used to pay it between three different shells – marked Anglo, NAMA and Bank of Ireland – to symbolise what we describe as the sneaky, yet buffoonish, way the government had sought to handle the issue.

Despite claims to the contrary by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in March 2012, the Irish government did pay the €3.1 billion promissory note on behalf of Anglo Irish Bank/Irish Nationwide. This payment was enabled by a loan to the state from (state-owned) NAMA. The government now wants to transfer this loan – in the form of a sovereign bond – to Bank of Ireland.

At 9am on 18th June, Bank of Ireland shareholders will gather at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the company to vote on whether to buy this sovereign bond. Should they vote in favour, Bank of Ireland stands to make approximately €38 million in interest. This represents a further transfer of public money to a private institution (85% of Bank of Ireland is privately owned).

Debt Justice Action is organising a protest at this event to highlight the scam and stitch up that was the Anglo promissory note ‘deal’ and to urge Bank of Ireland shareholders not to facilitate this transaction. Centre stage at the event will be a clown whose antics will draw attention to the ludicrous, clumsy and immoral nature of the promissory note deal which did nothing to relieve Irish citizens of the burden of paying for the gambling debts of Anglo Irish Bank.

 

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