Mr. Kevin Cardiff:

But I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you nonetheless. My recollection is that there three features, and I can remember what I think two of them were, if my recollection is correct. One of them was that the banks' wording - we had a two-year limit - the banks' wording, as far as I can recall it, would have said that any new borrowing in the course of that two years would be guaranteed for the full extent of its term; and the second thing, and I'm less clear on this, but I still think I'm correct, it was my view that the wording, just through a turn of phrase, would be such that any existing long-term borrowing, at the time of the guarantee, would also be guaranteed not just for the two years, but for its full term. Now, remember, this is not that the banks did something dreadfully wrong in giving us a draft. It was that, if you're in a negotiation, it's not a good thing to take the other side's draft uncritically. And I think this was a minor incident in a very big night, but the reason I mention it is because that the public has this view that the banks walked in, told ... said what they wanted and got exactly what they wanted. It wasn't like that. In fact, the decision to give them a guarantee was not fully made, but I think it was certainly in the minds of the Taoiseach long before that evening started. Certainly at the very beginning of the evening, long before the banks came in, at nine o' clock or ten o'clock or whenever it was. So it wasn't that the banks came in, that no-one had done anything and the banks came in and said, "Guarantee" and everyone said, "Oh yeah, okay". It was a different sequence. And my reason for mentioning that story of what I actually said, to the best of my recollection is to the Taoiseach, was, "They'll be laughing at us", was simply because anyone would laugh at you if you take their draft and you don't critically analyse it.