DISTURBING; Lisbon Treaty campaign gathers huge head of steam.

Byline: AINE HEGARTY

DECLAN Ganley's No to Lisbon campaign is being bankrolled by a secretive British tycoon who made millions gambling on Irish banks to fail, it was claimed yesterday.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan yesterday said it was "disturbing" that Mr Ganley's Libertas group was being funded by a London-based hedge fund that profited from Ireland's misery.

He also called on Mr Ganley to clarify that stockmarket tycoon Crispin Odey, who has backed him, does not have a vested interest in Ireland voting No to the Lisbon Treaty.

The calls came as it emerged the cost of our state borrowings will increase if we topple the treaty again.

With Ireland currently borrowing EUR400million a week to keep the country afloat, a No vote would see the cost of loans rocket.

Mr Lenihan added: "I find it curious that a hedge fund would have a direct interest in the goings-on in Ireland in the No sense because we can be sure about one thing - were there a No vote on Friday it would break international confidence in Ireland and that's very clear from what Dr Michael Sommers has said.

"It's very clear from all the testimony we have from people who actually invest and create real jobs here, that's what they're all saying.

"I just find it disturbing that the only person publicly disclosed as funding this campaign is a hedge fund. I don't think that's a body that would have the best interests of Ireland at heart."

The latest Electoral Commission declarations in Britain show London-based hedge fund manager Crispin Odey gave STGpounds 18,000 to Libertas.

And he gave pounds 3,000 in cash to Libertas at the end of May this year to fund Mr Ganley's failed attempt to get elected as an MEP.

The tycoon also gave just under pounds 15,000 worth of printing and distribution services to the party.

His Odey Asset Management group made huge profits during the credit crunch by shortselling shares in British and Irish banks.

Short-selling involves a stockbroker betting on share prices to collapse. A speculator borrows shares in a company from another party for a short period, then sells them in the hope of buying shares in the same company again for a cheaper price. He then gives back the shares borrowed and pockets the money made in the intervening trade.

The trick has been blamed for worsening the global crash and bringing several Irish banks to the brink.

Libertas chief Declan Ganley yesterday angrily denied he was being bank-rolled by a financier who had vested interests in a No vote.

He said: "It is quite stunning that Brian Lenihan, who has chickened out of a debate with me... will roll out this nonsense rather than talk about the disaster the Lisbon Treaty would be for the Irish economy.

"Its irrelevant, it's a distraction.

We need to talk about the fact that in this Lisbon Treaty there is nothing to create jobs, there is nothing that's going to help recovery in this country.

"It is spin designed to scare people into voting Yes."

Irish Mirror Comment: Page 10

WE FOLLOW THE MONEY FOR NO VOTE

By AINE HEGARTY, Political Editor

CRISPIN Odey runs the pounds 3billion Odey Asset Management company in London. It's one of Britain's biggest hedge funds - a high-risk investment vehicle open to a limited number of wealthy investors.

The Sunday Times claims Mr Odey and his wife's net worth is about pounds 300million - EUR326million - and the couple are known as the "Posh and Becks" of finance.

His wife Nichola Pease is heavily involved in banking and her brother-inlaw is head of Barclays bank. Mr Odey was one of the few people to make a profit from the global crash. In May, Mr Odey hit out at proposed new EU legislation which would involve stricter regulation on his activities.

and threatened to pull his multi-million business out of Britain after the government there imposed higher taxes.

STARS COME OUT FOR A FUTURE IN EUROPE

A WHO'S who in the Irish TV and film industry have come out in support of a Yes vote. Jim Sheridan, Diarmuid Gavin, Pat Cox and Brigid Laffan were some of the famous faces in Grafton Street in Dublin, pictured right, yesterday.

And the Screen Producers Ireland said a Yes vote will safeguard more than 5,000 jobs in the industry.

CAPTION(S):

PROFITEERS Crispin Odey and Nichola Pease WE BELONG Students in Dublin yesterday CHARGE Brian Lenihan with Europe Minister Dick Roche and Mary Hanafin GANLEY DENIAL Declan Ganley in Dublin yesterday