Taoiseach to give Dáil limited explanation of sterling sums

TAOISEACH BERTIE Ahern intends to offer the Dáil on Wednesday a strictly limited explanation about the conflict between him and a former secretary about sterling lodgements to his accounts, writes Mark Hennessy , Political Correspondent.

So far Mr Ahern, who is not due to appear before the Mahon tribunal until after May 20th, has made no efforts to seek an earlier appearance before Judge Alan Mahon, and is not likely to do so.

Mr Ahern's determination not to offer a fully detailed presentation to the Dáil may cause difficulties for the Greens and Progressive Democrats, who urged him last week to clarify matters to deal with "public disquiet".

The Taoiseach is understood to have sought the opinions of a small number of Cabinet colleagues, and all of them have told him to keep his primary focus on the tribunal.

Mr Ahern and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen met in Mr Ahern's constituency office, St Luke's on Thursday, following Mr Cowen's return from St Patrick's Day duties abroad and a short family holiday in Vietnam.

The meeting was described yesterday by one source as short. It is known that Mr Cowen had family commitments that day.

Some Cabinet Ministers are known to have conversed in the wake of the evidence to the Mahon tribunal of Mr Ahern's former constituency secretary, Gráinne Carruth.

She accepted at the tribunal that she had "as a matter of probability" lodged sterling given to her by Mr Ahern to his Irish Permanent Building Society account. Mr Ahern said the lodgements were salary cheques.

However, there is as yet no confirmation that Ministers have urged Mr Ahern to go back to the tribunal quickly, if only because few of them believe he would be able to clarify matters satisfactorily if he did so.

Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan five times avoided answering whether she believed Mr Ahern's account of his finances when she appeared on RTÉ's Week In Politics programme last night.

"It's not a matter for me to believe or otherwise," she said, insisting that the proper place for answers was before Judge Alan Mahon. She added that Mr Ahern had her full confidence "as the leader of this country and as president of my party".

The leader of the Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore, said Mr Ahern's colleagues should now seek to persuade him to step down. "I don't think his position is redeemable. I think it's gone past the stage of making these kind of statements. I think the only statement that we now need to hear from the Taoiseach is a statement of his resignation."

Mr Ahern's legal challenge to aspects of the tribunal's inquiries into his financial affairs begins tomorrow.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times