Ex-IRA man sold life policies for Cornhill

CORNHILL Insurance, the test match sponsor, which was fined pounds 150,000 last week by Lautro for regulatory failures including failing to obtain references for salesmen, once employed a former IRA man now serving 10 years for armed robbery, writes Nigel Cope.

Paul McGlinchey, convicted of possessing firearms in 1978, was recruited by Castle Life, a Cornhill agent in Belfast, for a year as a tied agent in 1990-91. McGlinchey is also the brother of Dominic 'Mad Dog' McGlinchey, the republican paramilitary leader shot dead earlier this year.

Cornhill, which admits it recruited McGlinchey, said it observed all the Lautro controls in the employment procedure. 'We obtained three references from people of standing within his community that revealed nothing untoward,' it said.

The insurer also said McGlinchy's performance was satisfactory and it received no complaints from customers.

After a year, however, Cornhill was tipped off that McGlinchy had a prison record and he was dismissed.

Cornhill, whose test match series between England and New Zealand opens at Trent Bridge this morning, declined to discuss the possibility of any connection between the McGlinchey affair and the recent Lautro fine.

Cornhill insisted that poor take- up of employee references did not apply in the recruitment of McGlinchey. 'We did all we could in this instance,' it said.