Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

My name was in the media for weeks, and nobody had spoken to me. That really annoyed me. To be honest, I did not know who to ring or who to talk to about it. When people did talk to me, the only person who could make the decision about whether they were going to propose me or not, in my view, was the Minister, Deputy Browne. I met him on the night of 16 April. After a discussion, he asked if I would be prepared to let my name go forward, and I did. I do not believe there was controversy at that stage. I am a GAA man, so you are playing the man rather than the ball. I sort of felt afterwards that I did not want to be the guy who was being played any more, and removed it. I do not mind whether people have different ideas on the role or not, but I genuinely believe there is big difference between the policy and implementation on the ground. Over the years in NAMA, I had to do stuff on the ground. I had to get involved and get my hands dirty. I believed I could have brought a skill set to do that. It was not to be, however. So be it. We move on. That is life.