NAMA for Eircom Shareholders

oceanclub

I was one of those people who, based on advice from Brian Lenihan's nice aunty, bought Eircom shares back in the day. I lost a bit of money on it, but put it down to experience. Because despite the fact that the banks were advertising and giving huge loans so you could buy shares in this "win/win" deal and the government were recommending them, I still as an adult made the decision to purchase them myself.

However, I now realise the error of my ways. I was actually browbeaten into buying them by the establishment and deserve to be bailed out because of it. Every though I was in my 20s at the time, I actually had no responsibility for my own actions. To leave me in "negative Eircom equity" is, I think, selfish on society's part. I decry the me-feinism of people who said I shouldn't get help.

Sons of Erin, who's with me? Please start ringing Joe Duffy and explaining our plan in between his deep sighs.

Brian's auntie wot stiffed me

Jaysoose

Sigh.

Madd Finn

Never mind that. We may soon have to deal with demands for a NAMA for eircom employees.


Just over a week ago, the Irish Times reported a speech made by Stevie Fitzpatrick of the Communications Workers Union in which he demanded government help for eircom which now looks quite vulnerable.


Among the things Mr Fitzpatrick said were:

“If the company continues to lose market share and remains bound by overregulation, they will run into serious problems within the next six months and maybe earlier in trying to service [their] debt.”
The union said the Government needed to take Eircom’s future seriously and “support the company, or else it will be facing another very costly collapse”.

Now remember that the employees via their vehicle ESOP own a 35% stake in eircom. It was the size of this shareholding, and the aggressive courting of it by a succession of corporate predators which forced many small shareholders such as the OP out of their stakes in eircom.

My pensioner parents, advised at the time of the original flotation by a variety of impeccable opinions to plough some of their retirement money into a long term sure thing were told after a few short years that the size of the majority in favour of delisting the company following its acquisition by Valentia effectively amounted to a compulsory purchase of their shares at a loss.

Some you win, some you lose. That's capitalism.

The ESOP made hay with this acquisition, a feat it repeated when Babcock and Brown took over. This "pass the parcel" capitalism was working well!

Now it looks as if the music has stopped and the employees will be left holding a poke containing a particularly malodorous pig.

And their union members are quick to ask the very people they shafted for their own aggrandisement back then to pick up the tab for the air freshener.

I don't think there are enough pairs of fingers in the country to generate an adequate non verbal response to that brass necked cheek.

But we can try.

cson

Yeah Eircom is wanked seemingly. The Aussies bit off way more than they could chew.

BeeDI

oceanclub wrote: »

Brian's auntie wot stiffed me

If that gets you stiff, what happens when you look at Joan Burton

cavedave

Wasn't a bailout of NAMA loses an Fine Gael election promise?

Fine Gael offering money lost on Eircom shares. That may attract floating voters, but the core issues are what win elections.

Fine Gael's €90 million proposal to allow Michael Noonan, Jim Mitchell and 487,998 other investors in Eircom to offset their share losses against their taxable income.

cson

Sure **** it, why don't we just allow any losses anyone ever made to be offset against tax? Everyone will be included then.

oceanclub

cson wrote: »

Sure **** it, why don't we just allow any losses anyone ever made to be offset against tax? Everyone will be included then.

It's good to see people coming with sensible suggestions and not indulging in me-feinism.

Sure, it's what Pearse would have wanted.

P.

danman

I lost my bet with Paddy Power, on Liverpool winning the prem this season.

I demand a NAMA for Liverpool fans.
We can't take it anymore.

Where do I protest to get my fiver back?

BeardyFunzo

I can't find any reference to it but i think the OP's idea was actually suggested at the time. And as far as i know there is/was until recently a mechanism for stock market losses to be written off against tax (but only for some people)

that said i can't find any evidence of this so maybe i'm dreaming the whole thing. If that's the case i have some sad dreams...

EDIT:
Turns out you could write off the losses against capital gains tax. the more you know.

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2002/06/09/story213126628.asp

dromdrom

If I remember correctly Micahael Noonan was the one to suggest recompense for Eircom Shareholders in the run up to a general election

BeardyFunzo

dromdrom wrote: »

If I remember correctly Micahael Noonan was the one to suggest recompense for Eircom Shareholders in the run up to a general election

That was it! you can always count on Fine gael to come up with mad ideas like that (my favourite was the their demands that people be allowed to pull their money out of share based SSIA accounts because of a couple of days of market turbulence- those same accounts went on to vastly out-perform fixed interest SSIAs)

they aren't as mad nowadays though (pity?)

fontanalis

What about "NAMA for the people who payed for NAMA for the little guy"

Nijmegen

Pfft, we have Bono and Bob out there demanding that other countries get all their debt forgiven. I say we move the whole kip to Africa and get them to give us a NAMA for Everything.

Zulu

We need another thread on this? Seriously? :rolleyes:

MysticalRain

I spilt my milk this morning. Can I have a NAMA too?

oceanclub

And the working mothers of Ireland need a Nama for Mama.

P.

cson

This is getting silly.

It should all come under the umbrella of the NEA [National Entitlement Agency]. :cool:

Jaysoose

Zulu wrote: »

We need another thread on this? Seriously? :rolleyes:

The op obviously feels so but then with his attitude in the nama for the little guy thread this sarcastic attempt at humour is not entirely surprising.

Welease

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

I can't find any reference to it but i think the OP's idea was actually suggested at the time. And as far as i know there is/was until recently a mechanism for stock market losses to be written off against tax (but only for some people)

that said i can't find any evidence of this so maybe i'm dreaming the whole thing. If that's the case i have some sad dreams...

EDIT:
Turns out you could write off the losses against capital gains tax. the more you know.

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2002/06/09/story213126628.asp

This was also quite common in the UK until about 5 years ago when the law was changed..