16 CHARGES, 15 JURORS, 3 DEFENDANTS THE ANGLO TRIAL

This week, Sean FitzPatrick and two other former Anglo executives face a criminal trial, charged with providing unlawful financial assistance to 16 people, writes Ian Kehoe.

Sean FitzPatrick: pleaded not guilty to 16 charges of providing unlawful financial assistance. Picture: Collins

In early 2008, Sean FitzPatrick, the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, sat down to write a forward for a book entitled ''That'll Never Work . . . The book, the brainchild of Irish accountancy giant KPMG, profiled a dozen entrepreneurs who had turned a fledgling idea into a profitable enterprise.

It was a zeitgeist publication, tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit that had spread through the country during those halcyon days of the boom.