Scannal examines the NIB scandal

This week Scannal delves into the story of National Irish Bank. Normally when you think of bank robbery, it"s the bank that"s being robbed, but the scandal of the National Irish bank story was that it was the bank that was caught stealing from its own customers. When the National Irish Bank story broke in January 1998 it changed the course of Irish banking forever. It was a scandal that saw the fourth largest bank in Ireland brought to its knees thanks to a courageous whistleblower. A scandal where two prominent journalists put their reputations on the line for what they believed to be the truth. A scandal that saw precedents set by the highest court in the land and a scandal that saw a well known TD ousted and shamed for her part in the proceedings. The story began with a phone call to RTÉ"s Chief News correspondent Charlie Bird. Charlie Bird worked on the story with RTÉ economics expert, George Lee. The first report was broadcast on the January 23, 1998. This first report dealt with tax evasion, specifically, the fact that the bank was helping its customers evade tax by availing of an offshore investment scheme on the Isle of Man. After the first broadcast, National Irish Bank was concerned about other confidential information being revealed and went to the High Court to stop RTÉ reporting any further reports using internal bank documents. The case went to the Supreme Court and in a landmark ruling, the court found in favour of RTÉ and on the March 25, 1998 the second story about the bank was broadcast by RTÉ"s Six One News. An emergency cabinet meeting was called and the public wanted answers fast. The then Tánaiste, Mary Harney, ordered an inquiry and for Charlie Bird and George Lee, it seemed like a good end to their story. There was however, to be another twist in the tale. Beverley Flynn, TD, had worked in National Irish Bank and during the course of their investigations Charlie Bird and George Lee were told that she had encouraged bank customers to avail of off-shore schemes to avoid paying tax. Flynn denied this and took a libel case against RTÉ, which she lost. She was also dismissed from Fianna Fáil. After a six year investigation the High Court inspectors" report into the NIB scandal was finally published and it showed that systematic overcharging and bank-sponsored tax evasion was practised, boosting profits and bankers" salaries. This episode of Scannal looks at the NIB scandal through the eyes of Charlie Bird and George Lee, who were both central to exposing the wrongdoings of the bank, and who both put their careers on the line. 'If you ask me do I trust banks, even today the answer has to be no.' - Charlie Bird, RTÉ Chief News Correspondent. Scannal is on RTÉ One on Monday, December 1, at 7.30pm.