Calls for inquiry into Nama NI deal

Micheal Martin, leader of the chief Opposition party Fianna Fail, said the Dublin government’s position on the £1.2 billion sale of a Northern Ireland property loan portfolio by a State agency in the Republic was becoming more untenable by the day.

The deal two years ago by the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) with US investment giant Cerberus has been dogged by controversy after £7 million linked to it was found in an Isle of Man bank account.

Investigations have been launched by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the US Department of Justice’s Securities and Exchange Commission as well as a parliamentary inquiry in Belfast.

But Taoiseach Enda Kenny has repeatedly rejected calls for an Irish state inquiry into the so-called Project Eagle sale.

Mr Martin said the “nothing to see here” attitude in Dublin was incredible.

“As revelations emerge, and as the levels of the investigations get deeper, the Government’s position in relation to the sale of Project Eagle by Nama is, in my view, more untenable by the day,” he said.

“The sense that there is nothing to investigate down here or there is no necessity for the Government of the Irish Republic to be overly concerned about this particular deal - I don’t think that is credible.”

Mr Martin said there are huge ethical questions over the entire sale of the portfolio, which he claims resulted in substantial losses to the Irish taxpayer.