FORMER HEAD OF the Irish Nationwide Building Society Michael Fingleton has died at the age of 88.

Fingleton was at the helm of the building society for nearly four decades, from 1971 up until 2009.

He suffered a stroke in the late 2010s and endured ill health in the following years since.

Born in 1938 in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, Fingleton studied at University College Dublin (UCD) and King’s Inns and trained as an accountant.

Before joining Irish Nationwide, he spent time at Allied Irish Finance, the Dairy Disposal Agency and Concern.

A lengthy civil trial that concluded last year examined accusations that Fingleton negligently mismanaged Irish Nationwide before it collapsed after failed financial and property “gambles”.

Fingleton denied the allegation but was unable to give evidence in the case himself due to his ill health.

Over the years, Fingleton built up Irish Nationwide into a major player in the Irish finance sector, providing mortgages and commercial lending services. It reported assets of €16 billion in 2007.

But after the financial crash, the building society received a €5.4 billion bailout from the government and was nationalised in 2010. 

Liquidators for the Irish Banking Resolution Corporation (IBRC) who took the negligent mismanagement case in the High Court case against Fingleton estimated losses worth €6 billion but sought only €250 million in damages relating to five loans made by the building society that were allegedly approved by Fingleton.

The five loans related to property development projects in Ireland, France and the UK between 2006 and 2008.

During the trial, Barrister Lyndon MacCann for IBRC said the claim against Fingleton was for damages for alleged “profound mismanagement”.

MacCann said it was IBRC’s case that Irish Nationwide operated on a speculation that property could only “go up, and up, and up, and up”. He set out that a “blasé” attitude had been taken to warning letters from auditors and the financial regulator.