Justice John Hedigan on banking: ‘Regulation can change behaviour, but not culture. They have to want to do it’

While he is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the future, Hedigan, chairman of the Irish Banking Culture Board, knows there is still a lot of work to be done to restore public trust in the sector

As a judge, John Hedigan saw first-hand the trauma the financial crisis inflicted on thousands of desperate homeowners. Picture: Fergal Phillips

If there’s a public perception that Irish courts and the judges who oversee the administration of justice sometimes don’t have regard for the plight of the common man or woman, Justice John Hedigan fundamentally disagrees with it.

The retired High Court and Court of Appeal judge saw first-hand the trauma the financial crisis inflicted on thousands of desperate homeowners and the memory of days spent preparing Commercial Court lists has not left him.

“There were ...