Banks tell Kenny to get lost as they refuse rate drop

THE three leading banks in the State have refused the Government's request that they lower interest rates.

Bailed-out Bank of Ireland and AIB along with Ulster Bank have refused to drop their mortgage rates despite requests from the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and the Finance Minister.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the refusal of banks to pass on interest rate cuts was "a serious issue".

Mr Noonan pointed out that the ECB had dropped its interest rates amid rising threat of a second recession in the eurozone and that there was little reason to argue why Irish banks shouldn't follow suit.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance Brian Hayes described the refusal to pass on ECB interest rate reductions as "pathetic".

And he didn't rule out further action against bankers' pay in light of the rebuttal.

Permanent TSB, KBC Bank, Irish Nationwide, Bank of Scotland/Halifax and EBS have all passed on last week's eurozone rate cut of 0.25pc.

The new form of Anglo Irish Bank -- Irish Bank Resolution Corporation-- has also passed on the cut to customers.

The Government met the heads of the banks face-to-face yesterday but their request was turned down -- which ultimately affects up to 100,000 variable rate customers.

"Each of the banks stated, for different reasons, they did not intend to pass this rate reduction to their variable rate mortgage customers," a spokesman for the Department of Finance said.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government had expressed "absolute disappointment".

"I subsequently rang the regulator, Mr Elderfield, and informed him of the outcome of the meeting and I asked him that as regulator he should report to Government as to whether or not he considers this to be a level playing pitch in the interest of consumers, and if he needs further enhanced powers that Government will respond to him," he added.

The Taoiseach has now directed the Financial Regulator to check how the bank's behaviour affects competition and whether there would be a good reason to legislate against this action.

AIB, which is State owned, says there will be no decrease for its customers, because it did not hike charges when the ECB increased rates during the summer.

Burnt baby and lost child in shock creche complaints

A number of shocking complaints about Dublin creches have emerged, including a baby who suffered a scald on her back, a child who was found wandering unsupervised and another who digested significant amounts of playdough.

Careworkers were also criticised by the HSE for sterilising soothers in household disinfectants such as Dettol or Savlon -- which should not be ingested by children.

The majority of complaints from parents to the HSE, received by the Herald under the Freedom of Information Act, related to overcrowding and lack of supervision.

But a parent complained after her child had to attend hospital for a week following a scalding incident.

The baby had accidently pulled down a bottle warmer and had a scald wound on her back. The school said that measures had been taken to prevent this type of accident from happening.

In another incident, a young child managed to leave the creche unattended and was not discovered until 30 minutes later by a member of staff.

The area was located just minutes away from a busy dual carriageway.

But the response to the incident was prompt. The owner of the service shut it down for one week to address the complaint and put additional procedures in place to ensure children's health, safety and welfare. In addition, electric gates were put in place to prevent this happening in the future.

The complaints relate to the Dublin and mid-Leinster area within 2009, and one creche in Kildare was investigated for several reports about a slapping incident.

Higgins to be sworn in as president

Ireland's ninth president, Michael D Higgins, will be inaugurated at a special ceremony in Dublin Castle on Friday.

The veteran politician, poet and campaigner will take up his seven-year role as head of state after a formal swearing-in in front of Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Chief Justice Susan Denham.

He takes over from President Mary McAleese, who spent an emotional final day visiting homeless men in Dublin after a remarkable 14-year term.

Mr Higgins is expected at the State apartments in the castle before midday for a service of prayer attended by members of all major religions to mark the start of the ceremony. As well as the blessing there will be a moment of reflection to mark the humanist philosophy and secular aspects of Irish life.

During his election campaign, Mr Higgins, 70, spoke about the need to be more inclusive and also suggested the Presidential Oath of Office could be modernised to support that idea.

Before the ceremony proper begins, Mr Higgins will stop briefly in the Connolly room of Dublin Castle, named in honour of the 1916 rebel leader James Connolly, for his own private moment of reflection.

The inauguration will see the Taoiseach request the Chief Justice read the Declaration of Office to Mr Higgins, followed by a formal signing in St Patrick's Hall. 

After the ceremony is complete, the Presidential Standard, blue with a gold harp, will be hoisted above Dublin Castle and the Defence Forces will fire a 21-gun salute from the grounds of Collins Barracks a mile away.

The new President will inspect a Defence Forces' Guard of Honour made up of 107 officers in the courtyard of the castle. The troops will be led by Officer in Charge Captain Emmett Harney and Flag Officer Lieutenant Deirdre Carbery, whose father Colonel Declan Carbery served for a period as Aide de Camp to outgoing President McAleese.

The ceremony will last about one hour and ends with President Higgins and his wife Sabina meeting children and invited guests from all sides of Irish society in the castle grounds.

Savage killer gets life for slaying hitman in front of his children 

A savage gangland murder that led to a bungling killer being jailed for life last night was part of a feud between a Dublin gang and the Real IRA. A jury took just over two hours to find Ballyfermot man Keith Wilson (23) guilty of the murder of hitman-for-hire Daniel Gaynor (24), who was executed in front of his family in broad daylight at Finglas in August of last year.

Wilson is a brother of Ireland's most prolific gangland serial killer, Eric 'Lucky' Wilson (27), who is serving life in Spain for murder and is linked to up to 10 gangland murders here.

During Keith Wilson's two-week trial for the murder of Gaynor, no motive was given, but today the Herald can reveal that Wilson was paid to shoot Gaynor by a shadowy veteran crime boss from Ballyfermot.

In the summer of 2010, this crime boss -- who has made millions from smuggling cigarettes into Ireland -- was engaged in a bitter feud with the Real IRA led by two north Dublin brothers.

The feud led to a shooting at The Players Lounge pub in Fairview, north Dublin -- where three innocent men were seriously injured -- and several other violent incidents.

But tensions spiralled out of control when the IRA gang ordered the murder of Colm 'Collie' Owens (34) as he worked in an animal feed store in Finglas, north Dublin.

Gardai believe he was targeted because he was friendly with some members of the Ballyfermot mob, which includes the Wilson brothers and major criminal Mark 'Guinea Pig' Desmond as well as other serious criminals.

Execution

The chief suspect for shooting Owens was notorious hitman Daniel Gaynor. Infuriated by the execution of Owens, the Ballyfermot mob decided Gaynor had to be targeted, and on August 14, 2010, the hitman was shot in the neck while walking on St Helena's Road with his girlfriend and two children on their way to their aunt's house.

Keith Wilson was enlisted to carry out the murder -- but showed his inexperience by leaving crucial evidence at the scene.

After fatally shooting Gaynor, Wilson left gloves, a cap, a hoody top and a gun near the scene. These items were recovered by gardai and played a crucial role in the case against the gangster.

After the murder, Keith Wilson fled to Spain.

But in November of last year gardai received specific intelligence that he was returning home to Dublin and he was arrested at Dublin Airport in an operation involving dozens of armed detectives.