The man at the centre of the controversy over Nama’s northern loan book has broken his silence.

Frank Cushnahan says he did not make a penny from the €1.6bn sale of the Project Eagle portfolio.

In an article in the Sunday Independent, the former Nama advisor claims he has been treated like “a criminal”, and that he is an innocent man.

A BBC spotlight programme has aired secret recordings that allegedly show Mr Cushnahan receiving €40,000 from a Nama borrower in 2012.

Mr Cushnahan says the programme “infringed his privacy” and the that controversy is having a “devastating impact” on the health of himself and his wife.