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Ahern hanging on by his fingernails but for how long? HE’S
been a fine leader, a great ambassador for the country and has many good
qualities. But how much longer can Bertie Ahern cling on as Taoiseach?
The latest revelations concerning his relationship with Manchester businessman
Norman Turner are surely a step too far.
We now know Bertie Ahern attended football matches as a guest of Mr Turner,
his party took money from Mr Turner and he helped secure an Irish passport
for Mr Turner.
Added to this is his backtracking over previous statements that his tax
affairs would not be resolved by Revenue officials until the Mahon Tribunal
into alleged planning corruption had finished its hearings.
In a less than clear retraction he told the Dáil: “It is
not correct — if I said so I wasn’t correct. I can’t
recall if I did say it. But I did not say, or if I did say it, I didn’t
mean to say it, that these issues could not be dealt with until the end
of the Mahon Tribunal.”
Translated that means: I can’t remember what I said. But if I did
say it, it was wrong. Which isn’t the most reassuring statement
ever issued by the leader of one of Europe’s most prosperous countries.
It comes as the Mahon Tribunal is continuing to investigate a series of
payments into Mr Ahern’s bank account totalling many thousands of
pounds during the early 1990s about which he also appears to have no clear
memory.
But, then again, if the Taoiseach can’t remember what he said less
than two weeks ago what chance has he of remembering events going back
more than a decade?
Now we have the revelations about a passport for British businessman Norman
Turner and donations to Fianna Fáil which only add to the damaging
story.
The facts as we know them are that as Finance Minister Mr Ahern helped
Norman Turner obtain a passport.
Just a few months earlier Mr Turner had made a $10,000 donation to Fianna
Fáil.
At the time of the donation the businessman was involved in the consortium
seeking political support for proposals to build a casino and conference
centre in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
In the same week Mr Ahern helped Mr Turner obtain his passport he lodged
£20,000 to an AIB account for the education of his daughters —
which he says came from his own personal savings.
Opposition politicians are hinting the timing of the lodgment and the
procurement of the passport are not a coincidence.
In truth that’s a rather giant leap of imagination to make.
There is nothing to suggest Mr Ahern accepted money in return for assisting
with the passport application. There is also nothing to suggest he did
anything improper in helping Mr Turner obtain the passport.
As of yet there is no evidence Mr Ahern has ever done anything wrong during
his political career.
But — and this is the crucial part — there is now a steady
drip, drip, drip of allegations against the Taoiseach. It has happened
to politicians before and it will happen to many others in the future.
But history shows that once the process starts the person at the centre
of the controversy rarely manages to hang on for very long. |
