{"id":167295,"date":"2025-11-30T08:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T08:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/167295\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T08:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T08:41:09","slug":"egg-throwing-bane-of-aib-bankers-dies-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/167295\/","title":{"rendered":"egg-throwing bane of AIB bankers dies \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some people just capture the spirit of the age. Gary Keogh, the AIB<\/a> shareholder who pelted the bank\u2019s higher-ups with eggs in 2009 as all about him lost their heads, was one of them. He died last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel happier about the whole thing than I have done for months,\u201d Keogh told The Irish Times in May 2009, in the immediate aftermath of the incident. He had lost \u20ac18,000 on his investment in AIB during the course of the crash<\/a> and, at the age of 65, decided to make his displeasure known.<\/p>\n

He showed up to the emergency general meeting of the stressed bank and, amid very heated exchanges, targeted the then chief executive Eugene Sheehy and chairman Dermot Gleeson<\/a>. Sheehy emerged clean, but Gleeson\u2019s suit \u201csustained a direct eggy hit\u201d, according to contemporary reporting<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The bank was outlining a \u20ac3.5 billion government bailout at a time when shares had dropped from highs of \u20ac23.95 a share to 87 cent on the day \u2013 and had further to go before hitting rock bottom. A lot of people, including many at or near retirement age, lost a lot of money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"EggEgg stains on the panel behind AIB finance director John O’Donnell and chief executive Eugene Sheehy at the AIB egm in Ballsbridge in May 2009. Photograph: Frank Miller <\/p>\n

Keogh, a former retail worker, had been buoyed by a kidney transplant, which freed him from dialysis and left him ready for action. \u201cI think I got Che Guevara\u2019s kidney,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0From the archive: Shareholder who threw eggs ‘feels happier’Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It was a splatter heard around the world. International outlets such as the BBC and The Guardian included the colour amid global tales of financial woe, as an example of the reality beneath the eye-watering debt numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cGary took no prisoners,\u201d his wife Thelma told Overheard this week. Equipped with a dry sense of humour and a strong sense of fairness, the egg incident was absolutely within character.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why he did it \u2013 because of the unfairness of it. He was a principled person. He didn\u2019t want to see people being deceived.\u201d <\/p>\n

Memories of the crash have slowly faded, but Gary\u2019s legend lived on in Blackrock, south Dublin, where he was from, and where the egging was \u201cone of the first things mentioned\u201d at his funeral.<\/p>\n

The bankers and the national media found out about the plan before Thelma.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t even tell me. I knew nothing about these eggs, they were sitting in the garage for about a month. He had them in his pocket,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfterwards he told me: \u2018Turn on the radio.\u2019 That\u2019s how I found out.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the incident, he told The Irish Times it was \u201cthe first\u201d but wouldn\u2019t be the last. True to his word, he took his protest to Bank of Ireland in 2011, firing at Pat Molloy and Richie Boucher \u2013 though on that occasion, he missed.<\/p>\n

Four missing inches of fashion\"IrishIrish fashion designer Paul Costelloe made a mark among royal watchers. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

Not every prominent Irish person abroad is necessarily as famous in their host country as they are at home \u2013 Ryan Tubridy and Evan Ferguson are good examples \u2013 but designer Paul Costelloe certainly made his mark.<\/p>\n

The Dubliner was a household name in certain British households because of his association with Princess Diana, whom he dressed on several occasions. The Times of London dutifully provided an obituary for him with in the right royal register reserved on Fleet Street for matters Windsor.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Easygoing but disciplined – descriptions of Paul Costelloe\u2019s clothes also applied to the manOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tenor sang, the heavens opened and Princess Diana was soaked, her blonde hair streaming down both sides of her face,\u201d the piece began, going on to note some of the most chic Costelloe clobber in her archive. <\/p>\n

Some other details were fuzzier, however. At one point, Costelloe was described as \u201c6ft, only a couple of inches taller than his royal client\u201d, while later he was referred to as spending much of his time in \u201cMonkstown, in southeast Dublin, where he could often be found sketching and doodling at Kehoe\u2019s pub\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Times, mostly hidden behind the paywall, still allows readers to comment online, and they rushed to make corrections. Gavin Costelloe, Paul\u2019s son, commented: \u201cPaul was 6\u2019 4\u201d. Not 6\u2019.\u201d That would make him half a foot taller than the former Lady Spencer. <\/p>\n

Another commenter also weighed in: \u201c … and Kehoe\u2019s is not in Monkstown!\u201d The pub, one of Dublin\u2019s most storied, is of course on South Anne Street, metres from Grafton Street. <\/p>\n

Irish cheese stays grounded\"CashelCashel Blue has gained some cultural prominence without a Hollywood agent. Photograph: Allen Kiely <\/p>\n

Best wishes to the Parma farmers as Parmigiano Reggiano, the grateable hard cheese, signs up to a Hollywood agent<\/a> with hopes of becoming a superstar. <\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s favourite umami dust will go to work for the United Talent Agency, which reps the likes of Angelina Jolie, Channing Tatum and Mariah Carey. The plan is product placement, in order to \u201cintroduce Parmigiano Reggiano to a wide pool of partners, to further its message of gastronomical excellence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Overheard, still chewing a lump of Durrus as we found this out, wondered why Irish cheeses aren\u2019t out there furthering their own message of gastronomical excellence in superhero movies and so on. We asked C\u00e1is, the Association of Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost makers are small, family-run businesses focused on local markets,\u201d said Eimear Cuddy, secretary of C\u00e1is. \u201cMany don\u2019t export at all, so the logistics, cost and time involved in pursuing international product placement would outweigh any potential return.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Ireland\u2019s hardworking culture industry sometimes name-drops a cheese without some slick-haired Hollywood dealmaker taking their percentage. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are occasional organic moments of exposure,\u201d says Cuddy. \u201cFor example, Cashel Blue has been named in a Cecelia Ahern novel, in poetry and also on a quizshow without them ever seeking it \u2013 but nothing that would resemble a Hollywood placement strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

X-ray for Bus\u00e1ras\"Busáras,Bus\u00e1ras, designed by Michael Scott, was opened in 1953. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

Bus\u00e1ras, the nation\u2019s foremost coach station, divides opinion between those (Sinn F\u00e9in housing spokesman Eoin \u00d3 Broin) who consider it \u201cDublin\u2019s most iconic mid-century modernist masterpiece\u201d and those (authentic mid-century modernist Myles na gCopaleen) who consider it a \u201cbust station\u201d. Hoping to heal this rift, Bus \u00c9ireann is in the process of trying to renovate it sympathetically, modernising access and facilities while polishing up the original features.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Why The Irish Times had to apologise to the architect of the \u2018fabulous\u2019 Bus\u00e1rasOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

First, they have to find out what it looks like. The OPW has issued a tender seeking a \u201cgeomatic survey of the building, both internal and external\u201d to provide a basis for drawings. That means making a digital plan using lasers, in essence. Early stages, you\u2019d have to conclude.<\/p>\n

What might they find? It\u2019s well known that there\u2019s a 225-seat theatre in the basement, with the Eblana having played host to the likes of John B Keane and Brian Friel over the years before shutting down in 1995. It won\u2019t be back \u2013 the space will become a training centre for elite bus operatives \u2013 but who knows, there could be a museum or a funfair down there too. These modernists were utopian.<\/p>\n

Still, if they get started now, it could be done before the Charlemont MetroLink stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some people just capture the spirit of the age. Gary Keogh, the AIB shareholder who pelted the bank\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7715,92862,27801,72,61,60,29684,86877],"class_list":{"0":"post-167295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-aib","9":"tag-banking-crisis","10":"tag-bus-eireann","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-opw","15":"tag-paul-costelloe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}