Mr. Michael Walsh:

Thank you. You might have to remind me which is which. First of all, in relation to Dr. Power's comments, I actually can't relate to, you know, certainly, that description of them at all. Every single board meeting had a board pack, it had an agenda and, you know, in many ways, you know, others have criticised us for actually having too big a board pack, too much agenda, etc., so I'm not sure how one can say, you know, there was, shall we say, kind of, no information and the other can say there was too much. I suspect, to be honest, it's a misinterpretation. Con, as you know, is, kind of ... you know ... or can be quite a comical and quizzical figure. So I suspect the question was actually probably, shall we say, tongue-in-cheek addressed to Michael Fingleton, as managing director, rather than myself.

In relation to the other comment as to, you know, my attitude to the society, I would never have used such words or such a description. I got involved because of a particular situation which was ... you know, I had expertise in a certain area, I had undertakings from the Central Bank and various Government Departments as to what was going to happen. Clearly, it didn't happen. Given that it didn't happen, I continued to chair the place in the best fashion that I actually could, with as good a board as I could hope to have had at the time and to continue to look to strengthen all aspects of the society so as to have it in as perfect a condition as possible when it came for actual sale. There is no point in trying to sell anything unless you have a product that is interesting for the buyer and the only way to have something interesting for a buyer is to actually have it as a good business.