Brian Lenihan to appear before Oireachtais Finance committee at 2pm. 31/08/09

[InReality]

No he doesn't. He knows how to blow smoke, bluster, obfuscate, confuse and pull all your emotional strings, with great confidence.

But that doesn't mean that anything he is saying has any validity whatsoever.

He's a conman, a snakeoil salesman, a three-card-shuffle small-time confidence trickster, and that is all he is.

He's just spent the last couple of hours talking utter nonsense, flat out lied on many occassions, contradicted himself again and again. A masterclass in assured spoofery sure, but make no mistake it was content-free drivel.

I respect your opinion.
I would be anti-Nama myself , in everything I've read up to now.
As a person with an average knowledge and interest in Nama , I have to say that Lenihen seemed to know what he was talking about , seemed to have thought about the options , and had good answers for most of the questions put to him.
I was impressed and somewhat reassured in him anyhow.
The overall competency of the goverment is terrible , but if they can keep NAMA seperate it may not be all bad.

I think when your the guy in the hot seat , its understandable he would have more concern over market reaction and the rest of it.
He seemed reasonable to me , and I think if Richard Bruton was making these decisions , ( which would be my 1st Preference ) , he would end up coming close to Lenihen's way of thinking.

[InReality]

On a seperate Point , Joan Bruton made an excellent point when she said that current market prices , take into account a view on what the future prospects are.

L didn't really answer this as I recall.