Bernard McNamara - Do you feel sorry for him?

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polo1

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I am sure I am going to lambasted for writing this.

I have just been reading todays papers about Bernard McNamara and saw him on the news last night also. I am finding it difficult not to feel a bit sorry for him (as a person).

I know this is probably mad (to feel sorry for him) but after working for years (most likely very hard) in a family business he now has nothing and is going to loose everything, effectively because he made miscalculated deals and because the banks allowed him to borrow extortionate amounts of money which he used personal guarantees for.
I just feel a little sorry for him and his family...
Anyone else feel any sympathy?
 
No sympathy at all for him or any of his greedy friends. They made so much money during the boom and they forced the price of houses and land up and up by buying up great big chuncks of land.

He deserves to be jailed if he cannot pay back his loans, its a simple as that. He deserves to be left pennyless if he cant pay back his loans.

Tough!

And why do I think that? Well if you or me or any other ordinary person owed the banks money or failed to pay your tv licence we'd be locked up in Mountjoy for a month!
 
Justice is being Served - Thank you very much!!

Oh and.... Do you really think he has no hidden assets / money - i seriously doubt he will be left 'broke'...
 
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Thats the thing Manto, I would imagine he has money stashed away in bank accounts all around the world.
 
I'd gladly face his current predicament to have lived the high life he has done for all these years.

The man is expecting sympathy because he may be forced to sell his Ailesbury Road house.

Slap it in to him.
 
Well, right now the people of Ireland are being forced to pay our money to insolvent banks. We are effectively paying for other people's gambling losses. If they had 'won' - would we also be sharing the rewards?

I feel sorry for everyone that has:
- lost a job or business
- had a pay cut or social welfare cut
- lost social welfare benefits
- paying more PRSI or income levy
- paying increased hidden government taxes and charges

I can't really say I feel sorry for any FF cronies. These people will remain rich, at the expenses of everyone else in the country - us.
 
While I doubt he will end up penniless, I also doubt that he has money stashed around the world. I believe that the prominent developers never really cashed in their profits, they just rolled them into the next gamble.

Sympathy ? The consequence of his misfortunes hits your wallet and mine, so no sympathy from me.
 
terrontress said:
I'd gladly face his current predicament to have lived the high life he has done for all these years.

The man is expecting sympathy because he may be forced to sell his Ailesbury Road house.

Slap it in to him.
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Where is your evidence that he

a) is expecting sympathy and

b) has been living the high life for all these years?

On a professional level I do not have any sympathy for him. He took big risks to build up his business and therefore has to take the consequences when the risks do not pay off.

I do feel sympathy on a personal level for anyone who has worked hard and lost it all.
 
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callybags said:
where is your evidence that he

a) is expecting sympathy and

b) has been living the high life for all these years?

On a professional level i do not have any sympathy for him. He took big risks to build up his business and therefore has to take the consequences when the risks do not pay off.

I do feel sympathy on a personal level for anyone who has worked hard and lost it all.
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+1
 
As I recall, he didn't have a great deal of sympathy for the residents of O'Devaney gardens when he reneged on a contractual agreement to re-develop the flats complex.
 
Obviously not, I find this thread a little hypocritical considering the numerous threads on how the likes of him and the banks have brought the country to its knees and then there is this thread where we have to feel sorry him!

He took the risks - it didnt pay off - Tough! Thats business.
 
MANTO said:
But i seriously doubt if things didnt go belly up for him, he would feel sympathy for all those in negative equity, on a personal level!
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People in negative equity isn't his fault. He didn't give out mortgages. The banks gave him massive loans (without of him even asking for them if he is to be believed) to buy land at massively inflated prices so obviously the prices of property climbed but the banks were there again on the other side to lend to the buyers to buy property at these inflated prices. The only people to win from this crisis was the banks.

I don't have much sympathy for property developers like him in one sense just like I don't have much sympathy for people who lost fortunes in the dot com bubble but I can't say I take pleasure in seeing this happen to him while people I consider to be much more culpable are walking around the streets on massive pensions and pay offs.

By the way, didn't you start a thread about the Irish being begrudgers....
 
Sunny said:
People in negative equity isn't his fault. He didn't give out mortgages.
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No he didn't but he (and others) assisted in pushing the price of houses to astronomical levels.

When we bought our house in 2005 my wife was on maternity leave and rather than wait for the showhouses to open on the Saturday, she went to the selling agent and put a booking deposit down on the Thursday, thus securing the house at €365K.

When the showhouses opened on Saturday, the same houses were €395K!

Do you think that the builder really needed the extra €30K per house? All pure profit (ex VAT of course). Possibly about as much as a Premiership footballer really "needs" that extra €20K per week in his wage packet.

I hope he loses everything.
 
DB74 said:
No he didn't but he (and others) assisted in pushing the price of houses to astronomical levels.

When we bought our house in 2005 my wife was on maternity leave and rather than wait for the showhouses to open on the Saturday, she went to the selling agent and put a booking deposit down on the Thursday, thus securing the house at €365K.

When the showhouses opened on Saturday, the same houses were €395K!

Do you think that the builder really needed the extra €30K per house? All pure profit (ex VAT of course). Possibly about as much as a Premiership footballer really "needs" that extra €20K per week in his wage packet.

I hope he loses everything.
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Sorry he put a gun to your head and made you sign. Did you go to the guards?
 
No - I took my chance and I'll live with the consequences. I don't expect sympathy or pity or even financial assistance.

So forgive me if I expect others to do the same, especially those who made fortunes on the back of silly little citizens like me who just wanted a roof over my head for my family without paying astronomical rent prices or begging a family member to let us stay in their spare room!

When did you buy your own house Sunny?
 
DB74 said:
No - I took my chance and I'll live with the consequences. I don't expect sympathy or pity or even financial assistance.

So forgive me if I expect others to do the same, especially those who made fortunes on the back of silly little citizens like me who just wanted a roof over my head for my family without paying astronomical rent prices or begging a family member to let us stay in their spare room!

When did you buy your own house Sunny?
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2006 and am in negative equity. I am not defending him per se but I just don't understand the 'I hope he loses everything' way of thinking. He didn't force anyone to buy a house, he didn't steal money, he didn't move offshore and avoid tax, he didn't defraud anyone, he didn't operate forced labour camps. He ran a business in an industry that was allowed to grow out of control because it suited banks and politicians. He has to take a share of the blame for his financial suicide due to his ego but I don't take any more pleasure from seeing him fail than I do seeing any other business fail.
 
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