“which would make the transaction almost untraceable..”

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was back in front of the Mahon Tribunal today and, while he may have emerged “with fists clenched” [He’ll be back in front of tribunal, btw – Ed], the problem is, as Cian at Irish Election says, “the core issue for Ahern is that [the] answers are not good enough to put the innuendo, the whiff, the intangible intuition, that there might be something askew to bed.” In addition to the previous uncertainty, those answers reveal that he can’t remember driving to the bank [When he didn’t have a driving licence? – Ed]; he now suggests that it wasn’t one transaction, but many small ones over a period of time by someone else although he can’t remember who; and that his “conclusive proof” is now only an opinion and that previously offered opinion is irrelevant. It’s also worth noting that the only person bringing up his personal life is himself, and he’s offering it as an excuse. Adds On RTÉ’s Questions and Answers, Éamon Ó Cuív TD, Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs, when questioned on whether he would have accepted the amounts of money Bertie Ahern has acknowledged taking, responded “I wouldn’t have.”

Pete Baker