Anger over TD Wallace’s hitman boast

I was heading up to the match in AVIVA yesterday and was entranced by the interview.

The Sunday Times excerpts quoted the the thread are inaccurate. Mick did not say the contracts manager told him to "go to hell" he said he told him to "f*** off". He also did say not he'd threatened anyone with a hit man or a gun. He told a former employee of his, then working in the firm that owed him 20k, that he believed he'd be paid because he had hired a hit man (I think "The Viper" Foley was on the go at the time). No threats, no guns, no advice to use guns, just a conversation between former colleagues.

He said he was also asked about an affair he was allegedly having with Marion Finnucane. Marion said she knew nothing about it. Mick said what started the rumour was that she'd allegedly been seen drinking in one of his wine-bars.

In Sept 2008 Mick reported that the directors' remuneration from the company accounts was 290k split between him and his 2 sons. In the same year the written-down value of that company was €15m. Given the audited valuation of the firm in the same set of accounts, Mick said their pay did not seem excessive.

Mick said he under-declared the VAT in the belief that the 400k would save the firm and he said he knew it was wrong and would not do it again if faced with the same circumstances. He was adamant that apart from the 400k all the other debts are cleared, which he said wasn't a bad record after 23+ years in business.

He was scathing in his opinion of most of his colleagues in the Dail. He said their prime concern from the time they're elected is in making the right moves to ensure re-election. Joe Costelloe rang in to deny Mick's statement that Costelloe had coerced him into hiring 4/5 ex-Gama workers and to deny that Mick had told him about the under-declaration of VAT before it became public knowledge.