DOCUMENTARY REPORT:THE GOVERNMENT was not told that Anglo Irish Bank had sought to be taken over by Bank of Ireland in late September 2008, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said.

Mr Cowen was commenting on a report contained in RTÉ documentary Freefalllast Monday night that Anglo was facing insolvency and sought the takeover at the same time that the Government was preparing to introduce the controversial blanket guarantee for the banks.

When asked whether he knew of the reported Anglo approach to Bank of Ireland, Mr Cowen said: “Well, there was no presentation to us at the time of a situation where assets were less than liabilities at that point. What we were dealing with was the need to make sure that the system had sufficient monies in the system to deal with it, so that was the systemic issue we dealt with.”

Asked whether Bank of Ireland or AIB had told him about an Anglo approach regarding a takeover, he said: “No, as I say, the issue that arose in the context of that particular occasion was the question of a guarantee being available for the banking system.

“Views were expressed, as the Minister has outlined, as I understand it, in the programme, regarding questions arising out of that, but from our point of view we felt it was important to send a clear signal to the international investment community that the Government were standing behind the banking system, and we were aware clearly that there were severe liquidity issues arising in all the banks, but particularly in relation to Anglo Irish Bank being able to open for business.”

The Taoiseach attributed the rise in the interest rate on 10-year Irish bonds to turbulence and “ebbs and flows” in the bond market.

It was “important to point out that there has been a more fragile international environment that we have been operating against in recent months”, he told reporters at the opening of the new Convention Centre in Dublin yesterday.