Former Lawson PAs not guilty of fraud

Two former personal assistants to TV cook Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband Charles Saatchi have been cleared of fraud.

The jury at Isleworth Crown Court in London found Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo not guilty of a single count of fraud each.

It was alleged that, between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012, the women committed fraud by abusing their positions as PAs, using a company credit card for personal gain and were accused of spending more than £685,000 (€820,000) on themselves.

Elisabetta, 41, and 35-year-old Francesca, both of Kensington Gardens Square, Bayswater, west London, had been accused of living the "high life".

The court heard they used credit cards loaned to them by the TV cook and her ex-husband to buy designer goods from Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Vivienne Westwood.

Francesca was accused of spending the largest amount on herself - a sum of £580,000.

But the sisters insisted all of their purchases had been authorised.

In a sensational twist, their defence lawyers introduced allegations of drug-taking by Ms Lawson and marital strife involving the celebrity couple.

It was claimed by the defence that there was a culture of secrecy within the high-profile couple's marriage and that the Grillo sisters were aware of Ms Lawson's alleged drug use, while Mr Saatchi was not.

The defence claimed that Elisabetta's knowledge of Ms Lawson's supposed drug use materially affected the TV cook's attitude towards her spending.

After the three-week trial, the jury of seven men and five women rejected the prosecution's claims that the purchases on the cards had been unauthorised.

Separately, police said Ms Lawson will not face investigation over claims she took cocaine.

Scotland Yard confirmed that officers will not look into the allegations at this stage, but said that the force will review the decision if new evidence comes to light.

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CAB agrees sale of Jessbrook Equestrian Centre

The Criminal Assets Bureau has won a High Court order striking out a potential legal impediment to the sale of property seized by CAB from criminal John Gilligan and his family.

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the Gilligans had no entitlement to a legal notice called a "lis pendens" (suit pending).

The notice would have warned prospective purchasers of Jessbrook Equestrian centre in Meath, and of three houses in Dublin, that the properties are subject to legal dispute.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the matters before the court had been litigated and re-litigated on a number of occasions and there had to be a limit to the number of times this can be done.

"There is a limit to how often a drum can be banged and that limit has been reached", the judge said when he declared the Gilligan case an abuse of process.

The "lis pendens" move, taken by John Gilligan, his wife Geraldine, and children Darren and Treacy, may have deterred some buyers who do not want to become embroiled in a possible court battle.

Mr Justice Birmingham said there was no doubt it, and further Constitutional proceedings brought against the Proceeds of Crime Act, under which the property was seized, was designed to frustrate CAB's attempts to sell it.

The judge refused an application by a lawyer for the Gilligans to put a stay on his decision pending appeal.

He also refused an application for legal aid for this case.

John Gilligan, recently freed from prison after serving 17 years for drug dealing, was present for today's judgment.

CAB sources confirmed the Jessbrook purchaser is going ahead with the deal.

CAB had argued the High Court should strike out the "lis pendens" notice because it was an abuse of process in an attempt to thwart the sale.

It had also been done some 16 years since a court first declared the properties were the proceeds of crime, CAB said.

The Gilligans argued their rights were breached because they have never had an oral hearing over whether the properties came from crime.

They claimed previously they were bought from legitimate earnings including from a £4m loan to John Gilligan to renovate his properties as well as from his gambling activities.

Nearly three years ago, the late Mr Justice Kevin Feeney, in finding the assets had come from crime, said he found Gilligan's explanations incredible and improbable.

That case is still on appeal to the Supreme Court.

However, CAB is still entitled to sell the properties including nearly 50 acres and the 3,500-seater Jessbrook showjumping arena which has gone on the open market for an estimated €500,000.

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'Orchestrated' campaign against NAMA - CEO

National Asset Management Agency Chief Executive Brendan McDonagh has said he is satisfied that allegations of impropriety at the agency are unfounded.

Speaking at a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee, Mr McDonagh said he believed there had been "a carefully orchestrated operation" to damage NAMA and undermine the financial interests of the State.

Mr McDonagh and Chairman Frank Daly today addressed the allegations made against NAMA in recent days.

Earlier this week, a NAMA spokesman confirmed the agency reported a second former employee to gardaí for allegedly sharing information unlawfully.

A separate investigation into another employee is at an advanced stage, according to gardaí.

Mr McDonagh told the PAC that NAMA itself was not given access to the detail of the allegations and was only made aware of them on Wednesday. 

He said NAMA understood that the new allegations had been made by an ex-employee, Enda Farrell, who is currently the subject of investigation by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, following a referral to them by NAMA in September 2012.

Mr McDonagh said NAMA understood that the allegations being made by Mr Farrell have been circulated to certain members of the Oireachtas and to certain media outlets.

NAMA internal auditors to review e-communications

Mr McDonagh said Mr Farrell had made a claim of unauthorised disclosure by him - alleging he provided a so-called "full file" of personal information relating to Patrick McKillen to a particular third-party. 

He said NAMA, over the last 36 hours, requested its own internal auditors to review all electronic communications between Mr Farrell and this third-party.

He said there was no evidence from the search to date that any information relating to Mr McKillen was transmitted electronically.

He said NAMA had very little information relating to Mr McKillen.

Financial information would ordinarily be expected to include sworn statements of affairs, lists of unencumbered assets,  borrowings with non-NAMA institutions and so on.

NAMA had never possessed this information in relation to Mr McKillen because the NAMA board took a decision in July 2011 not to acquire Mr McKillen's loans, he said.

Regarding the second case relating to a complaint made to NAMA of a possible unauthorised disclosure of a single document by another ex-employee, Mr McDonagh confirmed that it was referred to gardaí by NAMA in February of this year.

He said there was no electronic record of the transmission of the document. He added that there was no connection between this case and the earlier case of Mr Farrell.

On the issue of property valuations, Mr McDonagh said the allegation that NAMA engaged in a deliberate process of manipulating the valuation of property, which was collateral for its acquired loans, was untrue.

He said NAMA utterly refuted the allegation.

Mr McDonagh also referred to media reports that Mr McKillen had made a complaint to gardaí about NAMA. 

He said NAMA had not seen the complaint and so could not know what it related to. 

NAMA Chairman Frank Daly said it is hard to avoid the conclusion that there may be an attempt to undermine NAMA or influence its decisions. 

NAMA will not be intimidated or influenced, he told the PAC.

He said staff at NAMA do not deserve to have a shadow cast over them.

Mr Daly also said that the agency has state-of-the art security processes and systems and it is continually looking at improving them.

He said there are logistical and IT arrangements in place to make it difficult to access widespread information.

Mr Daly said there were no other investigations than the two referred to.

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Closure of Lufthansa Technik Airmotive confirmed

Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Ireland has confirmed the company is to close its jet engine overhaul facility in Rathcoole, Co Dublin.

The company served notice of termination of employment on all 411 staff at the plant today. 

LTAI announced the start of a 30-day process to consider closing the company in November, subject to consultation with all relevant parties.

The company said an offer from an outside party to take over the facility did not lead to any acceptable offer.

It also said negotiations with the three trade unions and employee representatives failed to identify any viable alternatives or to reach agreement on severance terms.

Statutory redundancy to the LTAI employees will be paid on completion of notice, at which time any ex-gratia payments agreed following today's Labour Court proceedings will be made.

These will also address the pension fund issue.

Staff at the plant were told last month that it would close in the New Year.

Since then, unions and management have been involved in a 30-day consultation period that unions had hoped would result in a compromise that would save at least some of the jobs.

Management and unions are attending a Labour Court hearing today to discuss ex-gratia redundancy terms and the company will also make a proposal to deal with the €10m outstanding deficit in the company pension scheme.

The Labour Court hearing was originally scheduled for 9 January, but was brought forward to today. A recommendation is likely to be issued by close of business, though it will not be binding.

Originally, 20% of staff were due to leave the company by the end of January, 60% by the end of February, a further 10% to depart by the end of March and the balance would leave at the end of June.

However, sources said it was likely that the closure would take place over a faster time scale.

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Govt sources say recapitalisation talks ongoing

Government sources have insisted that the possibility of the EU's permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, retroactively recapitalising Irish banks is still a work in progress.

In response to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso appearing to pour cold water on the idea at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, sources stressed that the negotiating process is ongoing.

Last night, Mr Barroso said the process was "for the future" and not "retroactive".

However, the sources insist he was referring to a separate process relating to Europe's forthcoming banking union, elements of which were agreed by finance ministers this week and which also involve the ESM.

A spokesperson for Mr Barroso has told RTÉ News that he was not referring to Ireland's request for ESM support for pillar banks when he made his remarks at a news conference in Brussels.

In response to a question about Ireland's case and the moves towards a banking union, Mr Barroso said the process was "for the future" and "not retroactive".

A spokesperson insists that he was referring to elements of the forthcoming banking union which were agreed by finance minister this week, such as how bank failures will in future be funded and how decisions to wind up banks will be made.

She said that Mr Barroso was not referring to Ireland's possible claim for retroactive support for pillar banks via the ESM, Europe's permanent bailout fund which, she said, was a separate issue.

She added that the European Commission had consistently supported Ireland during the bailout, in particular in terms of the request for lower interest rates on bailout loans, and on the extension of maturities of the loans.

The Government has been lobbying fellow eurozone countries for support from the ESM since early in the debt crisis.

In June 2012, eurozone leaders pledged to break the link between banks and sovereigns by allowing the ESM to "directly recapitalise" European banks in a way that does not place a burden on the sovereign, ie on taxpayers.

The Government has argued that the declaration of June 2012 carried an implicit promise that Ireland would be supported by the ESM, since the mechanisms currently in place in the eurozone were not available when Ireland poured taxpayers' money into Irish banks.

Sources point out that at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 20 June this year, a framework agreement was put in place which could facilitate the direct recapitalisation of banks by the ESM.

A maximum of €60bn out of the fund's total of €500bn could be made available for bank recapitalisation.

The framework agreement also specifically stated that "retroactive" recapitalisation could be a possibility "on a case-by-case basis," sources say.

Sources also point out that such a move could be done under Article 19 of the ESM treaty, and that therefore the ESM's charter would not have to be changed, although it would have to win the unanimous support of all 18 eurozone countries, including the approval of five eurozone parliaments.

Once technical details were worked out by eurozone officials on how the ESM might directly recapitalise banks, it would be up to eurozone finance ministers in the eurogroup to give the go ahead.

However, no direct recapitalisation can happen until the ECB's role in supervising Europe's banks begins in November 2014.

The Government would therefore have to wait until then before making a formal application for the ESM to provide a loan, or to take equity stakes in Irish pillar banks, such as Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny this afternoon insisted there is "no row" between the Government and the European Commission over the retroactive recapitalisation of Irish banks.

Asked about Mr Barroso's comments, Mr Kenny said Mr Barroso told him this morning he had no difference of opinion over the issue.

The Taoiseach said the decision made by EU leaders on the possibility of the ESM assisting Irish banks remains in place.

Asked about EU sources who said the Government requested that Commissioner Olli Rehn not visit Dublin for a conference this month as Ireland exited its bailout, Mr Kenny said he did not phone him.

The Taoiseach maintained the Government wanted to ensure there was no unnecessary hype over the bailout.

ECB to supervise banks

On Wednesday, finance ministers from all 28 EU member states reached a tortuous deal on two of the key elements of the proposed banking union.

Once the ECB takes up its role as Europe's new banking supervisor, a mechanism will be in place to deal with both the winding up of failing banks and how that process should be funded.

On the funding side the burden will, from 2016-2025, initially fall on the banking sector and on national governments.

Banks will have to contribute to a fund that will be used in the event of a bank failing, and which will be divided into national "compartments".

Over the ten years, the contributions will gradually be mutualised into one overall fund of €55 billion.

Over the ten-year period, the ESM can be used to provide bridging finance with the understanding that such loans would have to be paid back.

By 2025 the fund, known as the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), will be augmented by a "common backstop".

That is taken to mean that at that point there would be a bigger, mutualised fund of European money available, although the details have been left vague.

Asked yesterday if this week's developments on banking union strengthened Ireland's position on getting a deal on debt, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: "From Ireland's point of view, we have moved on significantly from where we were."

Since the June 2012 summit, senior eurozone figures, including German finance minister Wolf Schaeuble, have since cast doubt on whether the ESM could be used retroactively.

Barroso says euro was victim of Irish practices

Speaking last night, Mr Barroso also sharply criticised the idea that the euro had caused Ireland's problems.

Mr Barroso instead contended that the euro was the victim of irresponsible practices in Ireland's financial sector.

He said it would be wrong to give the impression that Europe has created a problem for Ireland and that therefore Europe now has to help.

It was the Irish banking sector that caused one of the biggest problems in the world, he said, and that responsibility at that time lay with Irish authorities.

Comments 'not open to misinterpretation'

Responding today to Mr Barroso's comments, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said: "EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso now appears to be definitively ruling out retroactive recapitalisation. His words leave this Government badly exposed."

Mr Adams accused the Government of having "miserably failed to defend and promote the interests of Irish citizens".

Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Michael McGrath described the comments as a betrayal of previous commitments that have been made by EU leaders that Ireland would be treated as a special case.

He said: "President Barroso's blunt comments about Ireland are not open to misinterpretation. He has essentially shut the door on any European Commission support for a deal on retroactive bank recapitalisation for Ireland.

"His statement flies in the face of the communiqué agreed by EU Leaders on 29 June 2012, which provided for the separation of banks and sovereigns and explicitly stated that the Irish case would be looked at individually."

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Right-to-die campaigner Marie Fleming passes away

Marie Fleming, who lost a landmark Supreme Court right-to-die challenge earlier this year, has died.

Her partner Tom Curran said Ms Fleming died in the early hours of this morning.

The 59-year-old had been in the final stages of multiple sclerosis.

Mr Curran told RTÉ news that his partner's condition had worsened in the past two weeks and she had the "peaceful death in her own home", that she had fought for.

He said, however, he would continue to take part in a campaign to have the ban on assisted suicide lifted.

"We have raised awareness, what happens now is what matters. I would still feel the fight needs to be continued as there are others who still need this.

"It would be unfair to Marie's memory to walk away from that now."

Ms Fleming took a landmark case to the High Court last year arguing that the criminal ban on assisted suicide breached her Constitutional rights and discriminated against her as a disabled person.

In her evidence to the specially convened three-judge court, she said she was physically unable to take the final step to end her own life and wanted her partner to be able to help her without fear of prosecution.

She said the ban on assisted suicide prevented her from doing what an able-bodied person was free to do.

She said she was in constant pain and wanted to be able to decide when to end her life.

The three-judge divisional High Court described Ms Fleming as one of the most remarkable witnesses it ever had the privilege to encounter.

President of the High Court  Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns described her courage in adversity as "both humbling and inspiring".

However, the High Court ruled against her and the Supreme Court upheld the decision earlier this year.

The seven judges of the Supreme Court said there was no Constitutional right to die or to be assisted to do so.

The right to life enshrined in the Constitution did not import a right to die or to be helped to end one's life.

The court also held the ban on assisted suicide did not discriminate unfairly against Ms Fleming and was not incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

But it said there was nothing to prevent the introduction of legislation to deal with cases such as that of Ms Fleming.

Mr Curran later began a political campaign to have the law changed on assisted suicide.

Ms Fleming, a former university lecturer, died at 5.30am this morning.

Tributes paid to right-to-die campaigner

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said Ms Fleming's campaign on issues around the right to die was "both brave and courageous".

In a statement, he said: "And while pursuing her campaign - at both political and legal levels - was always going to be a challenge, her deeply-held conviction meant it was one she was never going to back away from.

"Marie successfully highlighted the complex issues that affect people who find themselves in a situation like hers, and the fact that her case has kick-started a national debate on these matters will be her lasting legacy."

Independent TD John Halligan said he and others plan to put forward a bill for legislation on assisted suicide in certain circumstances in the very near future.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Halligan, who knew Ms Fleming, said people should be entitled to a dignified death.

He said: "It is about compassion, that is it right to allow somebody, a sentient human being, suffer dreadfully?

"I met Marie and she was in unbearable pain, severe physical disability, she suffered frequently from pain.

"She was terminally ill, she was going to die anyway so why should we allow people have an agonising death, if they don't choose to want to take that path."

The argument coming from a considerable number of TDs and Senators was that the option for assisted suicide should be there, he said.

He said the argument had been made that a terminally ill adult may feel under pressure to choose death if they felt they were a burden on society or their family, but he said then the onus was on Government to ensure that palliative care and other services were adequately provided to prevent this.

He said Mr Curran would go into the Dáil in January, and that a number of TDs, Senators and some barristers would be meeting to discuss the issue.

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Farmers protest in Dunnes Stores over prices

Around 200 farmers have moved a protest over the low-cost selling of food to Dunnes Stores in the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre in Dublin.

They pledged to buy up all of the fresh produce being sold for as little as 6c. 

Shop staff watched as more and more farmers congregated in the store.

The farmers are calling for regulation to tackle the low-cost selling of fresh food.

The farmers say large retailers are decimating jobs and small businesses as they compete to attract customers.

Retailers including Lidl, Aldi, SuperValu and Dunnes Stores are currently offering fresh fruit and vegetables for as little as 5c per item.

The Irish Farmers' Association has accused Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton of dithering over the regulation of the producer-retailer relationship.

A spokesperson for the minister said the new consumer and competition bill, which will address fairness in the supermarket-producer relationship, is almost finalised and will be published in the coming weeks.

In a statement to RTÉ, SuperValu said it will absorb the cost of the price cuts currently being offered on some fruit and vegetables in its stores and costs will not be passed on to producers.

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Graham Dwyer refused bail by Supreme Court

Architect Graham Dwyer, who is charged with the murder of Elaine O'Hara in August last year, has been refused bail by the Supreme Court.

Mr Dwyer had appealed against the High Court's decision to refuse him bail last month.

He is accused of the murder of Ms O'Hara, a childcare worker whose remains were found in the Dublin Mountains in September more than a year after she went missing.

Mr Dwyer, wearing a navy suit, blue shirt and polka dot tie was in court for the appeal hearing. 

Reporting restrictions were imposed on the High Court proceedings and the proceedings in the Supreme Court.

The hearing lasted about an hour. 

After a short break to consider their decision, Chief Justice Ms Justice Susan Denham announced that the court was upholding the High Court's decision to refuse bail.

Mr Dwyer is due before the district court again on 15 January.

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Man who stabbed victim 100 times jailed for life

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a man he stabbed more than 100 times.

Criostoir MacCarthaigh of An Gleann, Baile Phamar, (Palmerstown), had pleaded not guilty to murdering David Whyte in Dublin between 24 and 26 September 2008.

However, a jury found him guilty today.

The victim's family said afterwards that he was an innocent man attacked on his way home.

They said they did not know why MacCarthaigh killed Mr Whyte.

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NAMA to respond to criminal activity claims

NAMA has accepted an invitation from the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee to appear before it tomorrow at 11am. 

PAC Chairman John McGuinness has asked representatives of NAMA to come before the committee to respond to allegations of criminal activity at NAMA.

Yesterday, a NAMA spokesman confirmed it reported a second former employee to gardaí for allegedly sharing information unlawfully.

A separate investigation into a former employee is at an advanced stage, according to gardaí. 

NAMA indicated to the committee this morning that it was anxious to be afforded a public opportunity to address these allegations.

The Chairman and Chief Executive of NAMA will attend the meeting tomorrow.

A spokesman for NAMA said: "We are very grateful to the Chairman and to the members of the Committee for affording us this opportunity to meet with them at such short notice.

"We consider the PAC to be the most appropriate forum to address these matters".  

Fine Gael TD John Deasy said it is very significant that NAMA should be given an opportunity to respond to the committee immediately while these allegations are ongoing.

He said that a lot of people out there would like to see NAMA damaged and they need to be given the opportunity to come in.

He said that today there is an issue in the papers with regard to undervaluing loans.

He asked the Comptroller and Auditor General if he has looked at this issue and if he found anything.

The C&AG said that overall it is difficult to see how across the portfolio that there would have been underpayment.

He said that the whole valuation process was assessed by the European Commission and it is difficult to see how there could have been any undervaluing.

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