Brian Cowen to say he overruled Lenihan on night of guarantee

Former taoiseach Brian Cowen is to confirm he overruled Brian Lenihan on the night of the bank guarantee in 2008.

It is understood that Mr Cowen, who is to appear before the Banking Inquiry on Thursday, will say he held a private meeting with the then minister for finance on the night of September 29th, 2008.

He will tell the committee it was not a confrontational exchange, but Mr Lenihan did favour nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank.

Mr Cowen is to say he believed that option was too risky, was open-ended and posed a bigger risk to the economy. The former taoiseach will tell TDs and Senators how he was warned that Ireland had one shot at addressing the issue.

Agreed

Mr Lenihan agreed with his colleague on the need for a guarantee after the private meeting, Mr Cowen will say.

Former secretary general at the Department of Finance Kevin Cardiff confirmed he was also in favour of nationalisation on the night in question.

Speaking on RTÉ radio on Sunday, Mr Cardiff said it was “evident” at the meeting that Mr Cowen favoured the option of a broad guarantee, “from the body language, the demeanour, even the way he introduced the meeting”.

“He introduced it in a way that the guarantee was the benchmark option against which other options would be judged. He didn’t close off other discussion. It was just the benchmark, the first-choice option,” Mr Cardiff said.

He added that the former taoiseach said nationalising the bank had its pros and cons. He said Mr Cowen was “convinced the guarantee was the way to go” and confirmed he and Mr Lenihan had a private meeting on the night in question.

The former taoiseach is to appear before two hearings of the inquiry on Thursday, but will focus primarily on his time as minister for finance. He is expected to tell members his budgets were prudent, conservative and based on “modest deficits”.

The former Fianna Fáil leader is due to return on July 8th to discuss his time as taoiseach.

Mr Cowen's evidence was revealed in the Sunday Business Post this weekend and its distribution is to be discussed at a private meeting on Tuesday. A source insisted the leak of a statement could be forwarded to gardaí, but it is unlikely.

The committee has already agreed to send the suspected leaking of Mr Cardiff’s evidence to An Garda Siochána for investigation.

FitzPatrick correspondence

The inquiry has also received correspondence from former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Seán FitzPatrick and two other executives, Willie McAteer and

John Bowe

, who are due before the committee.

Lawyers for the three men have written to the committee, warning that evidence given by them could prejudice court proceedings. The decision on whether they can appear will be made by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A date has been set for their appearance of July 29th, when former chief executive David Drumm is also due to appear.

The inquiry has not received a reply from Michael Fingleton, the former managing director of Irish Nationwide.

The inquiry will also hear from former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy this week. Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is due to appear on July 16th, as is former attorney general Paul Gallagher.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Joan Burton, Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton and Labour TD Pat Rabbitte are due before the committee on July 23rd.