Shawn Fitzpatrick’s funeral told the controversial banker that he had many career ups and downs

His funeral today heard that controversial banker Sean Fitzpatrick had « a lot of career ups and downs in his life ».

His daughter Sarah described the former head of the Anglo Irish Bank, which cost the state billions of dollars when he went bankrupt in 2009, as a « giant man ».

The former CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors passed away at the age of 73 last Monday after a long illness.

Businessman Dennis O’Brien, former bankers David Drum and Tiarnan O’Mahony, and former Independent News and media chief Leslie Buckley were among the mourners who gathered at his funeral at Greystones in Co-Wicklow.

Sarah told Funeral Service how he was a « very loving, very present father » who was « always there for us, » and described her father as having « this extraordinary ability to connect with people » from all walks of life.

She said, « A lot of people told us that what amazed them the most about my father was his humility. »

“He always wanted to help in any way he could, and God made a lasting impression on anyone he met.

“He was a man of tremendous mental strength. He was constantly reminding us that the measure of a person is not his successes but actually how he can find a way forward when he is dropped off a horse.”

The former bank chief became a well-known and controversial figure after the transformation, rise and fall of the Anglo Irish.

Over the course of 30 years, he built the bank into one of Ireland’s largest lending institutions.

But Anglo went bankrupt during the financial meltdown and ended up costing the Irish state around €29 billion.

The former banker resigned in December 2008 when it was revealed that he had hidden €87 million in loans from the foundation.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was declared bankrupt in July 2010. He was arrested two years later by officers investigating financial irregularities and then charged with botched insider trading fraud.

However, the case collapsed in 2015 after it was revealed shredding of documents held by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

A jury had previously found Fitzpatrick not guilty after charging him several million loans that Angelo made to major clients to buy shares in the bank as the stock market crashed.

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