Tom Lyons on Business

Why was Michael Walsh fined only €20,000? Perhaps the Central Bank is lucky he settled

Telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien spent millions on the refurbishment of the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince in the wake of the Haitian earthquake in 2010 – last week it was destroyed by firen Pic: Getty

And so it came to pass, 3,281 days after Michael Walsh resigned as non-executive chairman of Irish Nationwide, a building society whose collapse cost the state €5.4 billion, he was fined €20,000. The 66-year-old multimillionaire has also agreed to a three-year period of disqualification from being concerned with the management of a regulated financial service provider.

“The sanctions imposed on Mr Walsh as part of this settlement reflect the seriousness with which the ...