There was a delay of more than three hours but Fintan Drury’s evidence was worth waiting for when it was finally delivered.

He was the first former director of Anglo Irish Bank to give evidence to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry since it began its hearings last December.

His close friendship with Brian Cowen was also under the spotlight, particularly two events involving the former taoiseach and Anglo executives in the months before the financial crash in late 2008.

In his appearances before the committee, Cowen said there was no business discussed during a dinner with Anglo executives at its St Stephen’s Green base in April 2008, or at golf outing in Druids Glen, Wicklow.

Drury accepted yesterday that some people, including some of his friends, find it hard to believe that there was no discussion about Anglo at these events.

Conflicts

Former Anglo chief executive David Drumm’s written statement, which might not now be published due to the intervention on Wednesday by the Director of Public Prosecutions, conflicts with the evidence of both Cowen and Drury on this point.

It is understood that Drumm has stated that he and Cowen discussed the National Treasury Management Agency at the April dinner.

At the time, the NTMA was reluctant to place deposits with the Irish banks and was doing so under instruction from Cowen, who was in the closing stages of his time as minister for finance.

Of course, Drumm has not taken an oath before the inquiry, unlike both Cowen and Drury.

Drumm was also found to be a liar by a US bankruptcy court in January in relation to the transfer of assets to his wife to keep them away from his creditors.

Drury said no Anglo business was debated at the dinner but he couldn’t be absolutely sure that the NTMA wasn’t discussed on the night.

Anglo’s share price had been hammered on St Patrick’s Day 2008, amid rumours about its liquidity position and Sean Quinn’s stakebuilding in the bank.

Drury said Anglo’s chairman Sean FitzPatrick rang him to see if he could put him in touch with Cowen, who was abroad on a trade mission.

He acted as a conduit and Cowen told FitzPatrick that the matter would be handled by the governor of the Central Bank.

In relation to the round of golf, Drury made the point that given he was such a close friend of Cowen and had such ready access to the former taoiseach, he had no reason to organise such an outing in public when they could have held a private meeting behind closed doors.

The game of golf was preceded by a meeting between Cowen, Drury, FitzPatrick, Gary McGann, then chief executive of Smurfit Kappa and an Anglo non-executive director, and Alan Gray, an economist and a director with the Central Bank at the time.

It was a “one-off” meeting that Cowen had asked Drury to put together to discuss emerging economic issues at the time.

Cowen, it seems, did not want this to be considered as a “kitchen cabinet”.

Gray drew up an agenda, they had a discussion, and this was followed by six or nine holes of golf by Cowen, Drury and FitzPatrick followed by dinner involving the five.

Drury insisted there was nothing untoward about the day.

Deliberate manner

A skilled public relations executive, Drury delivered his evidence in a calm and deliberate manner.

He took care not to stray offside in a way that might prejudice various criminal proceedings involving Anglo and wouldn’t name other public figures who had been invited for dinner at Anglo headquarters in the years before Cowen.

Integrity

He stressed his integrity a number of times yesterday and he should be taken at face value when he says he would never have done anything to compromise Cowen in his role as either minister for finance or as taoiseach.

And that Cowen would never have allowed himself to be compromised.

The ethics of Drury and Cowen in their dealings with each other over the years might have been impeccable but their judgment was somewhat lacking.

Given their close personal relationship and their respective roles as finance minister and bank director, and the stresses and strains that were emerging in the financial sector in 2008, both in Ireland and abroad, it was imprudent for Cowen and Drury to have had such contacts in the months preceding the guarantee.