Mr. Frank Daly:

At that stage, there was some politics going on. It was during a very fraught period in the country's history. There were many sensitive decisions being made. North-South relations were quite good and we did not want to do anything to upset that. That is the context in which the decision was made. The Minister received a recommendation from his counterpart in Northern Ireland of two people who, on the face of it, looked to be people of standing in Northern Ireland. Mr. Brian Rowntree was chairman of the housing executive, on the policing authority and some other bodies, as I understand it. Mr. Frank Cushnahan was a businessman but had been chairman of the Belfast harbour commissioners and I think he also had a role in some office in Stormont, though I cannot quite recall what it was. Here we had two people of standing in Northern Ireland recommended by the Minister for Finance of Northern Ireland to our Minister. I believe it was reasonable for him to take it at face value.