Tag Archives: Bertie Ahern

From a statement tonight by Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin via Politico.ie:

Although the central allegation against Bertie Ahern was not sustained, the evidence confirmed by the Tribunal and its comments relating to him are extremely serious.  The receipt by a senior office holder of large amounts of money which a sworn Tribunal has held is of unclear origins and the failure to give any credible explanation requires an unequivocal response.  No matter how high a member rises within the party and in elected office, they still carry a duty of trust for the members of Fianna Fáil and for the people who elected them.

The report records that Bertie Ahern gave a significant amount of evidence to the Tribunal which, in the opinion of the Tribunal, was untrue. 

It is a matter of profound personal and professional regret to see confirmed in this Report the extent to which Bertie Ahern fell short of the standard of personal behaviour which is expected of the holders of high office. In the manner in which he received this money while holding high office and in the giving of rejected evidence to a sworn tribunal Bertie Ahern betrayed the trust placed in him by this country and this party.

I, together with the party’s officers with whom I have met and consulted, believe the conduct of Bertie Ahern as outlined in the evidence made public through the Tribunal and the findings of the Tribunal constitute conduct unbecoming a member of Fianna Fáil.  Accordingly, I will propose a motion to expel him as a member of Fianna Fáil at the special meeting of National Executive.  We are writing to Mr Ahern to inform him of this decision.

Cold.

(Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

“After spending over a decade of inquiries and countless millions of euros, the Tribunal has not made – nor could it make – a finding to support the scurrilous and untrue allegation allegation that I had been given a corrupt payment by Mr Owen O’Callaghan (the Cork based developer of Quarryvale) or any of his companies. I have never received a corrupt payment and I have never done anything to demean any office I have held. I know that some people will feel that some aspects of my personal finances are unusual and that in retrospect it is obvious I was wrong not to have paid more
attention to my financial affairs and records. I hid nothing. I gave the Tribunal unfettered access to all my financial records, and after years of investigation, this Tribunal has not made any finding of corruption against me. I have told the truth
to this Tribunal, and I reject strongly any suggestion that I sought to mislead it”

Bertie Ahern, March 22, 2012.

Sounds fair enough.

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

The Mahon Tribunal has declared that years of video of witnesses giving evidence will never be released.
Officials with the planning corruption probe have said it will release its long-awaited final report soon. 

However, the judges with the inquiry have now announced that evidence at hearings, which were electronically recorded, will never enter the public domain. 

Several taoisigh, dozens of former ministers, TDs, developers and lawyers appeared in the witness box between 1997 and 2008. 

The stored video footage includes several appearances by Bertie Ahern, whose finances were thoroughly probed by tribunal lawyers. 

The inquiry was originally set up in 1997 to deal with allegations of planning corruption in north Dublin and its remit later included payments to politicians and officials.

Thousands of hours of footage from 900 days of recording.

*shudder*

Still.

Mahon Tribunal will never release video evidence (Irish Examiner)

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