New blog on the Mahon Tribunal

http://citizenjon2008dublincastle.wordpress.com

My thesis

I’ve been interested in the Mahon inquiry into corruption for some time now. The relevance of this story to modern Ireland is pointed because it affects what we see around us, or rather, what we see built around us.

The planning process in Ireland to develop land for commercial, domestic or other uses affects us as citizens profoundly.

I’m started an online thesis project. Delivering daily, up-to-date, reportage of news coming from Dublin Castle.

I haven’t got a comments option going yet, so post any comments here if you like ,

slan

CitiZenJon

started up a new blog,

http://citizenjon2008dublincastle.wordpress.com/

J.

Bertie Visits the Tribunal

Last week at the Tribunal the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern responded to questioning from Des O’Neill SC, leading counsel for the Inquiry into planning corruption.

Day one of the two day attendance saw little initial public enthusiasm that did his two previous attendances on December 21 and 22. Similiarly the commencement of questioning was reported by some in the public gallery to be almost polite.

That was to change as the day progressed, with opposition coming from both the Irish leader and his legal team lead by barrister Conor McGuire SC to the line and tone of questioning.

At 11:36 things started to heat up as the Taoiseach answered questions concerning two lodgements of 5,000 pounds and as to whether or not these sums were believed by the Taoiseach to be political donations or personal gifts.

O’Neill SC: Was it your belief that somebody had given you two 5,000 pounds gifts?

Ahern: No

O’Neill: And you thought you knew the company that had given it?

Ahern: Yes. And the individual. But when I went back to the company, and I have to say they have been very helpful, they could not verify that the individual I thought had given it to me had given it to me. So I was not able to prove that.

O’Neill: but was it a political donation?

Ahern: Sometimes I think you don’t listen to me […] it was a political donation for my personal use.

Mr. Ahern spent most of the day prevaricating and dodging precision at every verbal turn. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective and stymied the relentless Senior Counsel’s questioning. At one stage Ahern refuses to answer a question concerning a payment received into an account connected to Ahern in October 1992, he ignores the question five times by going off on a tangent.

A peculiar tell of Ahern’s is his habit of ducking his head behind the witness box monitor. He does this in response to certain questions and does it now in response to the production of a compliment slip from Davy Stockbrokers, it reads “Best of luck in the election Bertie.” Signed by Robbie Kellegher it is evidence of a 5,000 ‘contribution’ paid into the ‘B/T’ account administered by his close friend Tim Collins.

Mr. Ahern revealed for the first time that his lover Celia Larkin had withdrawn 30,000 pounds from the account to purchase property in his constituency.

McGuire SC calls for a recess, but judge Mahon denies his request.

The Oireachtas

On Wednesday, I beseeched Tony Gregory’s PA Valerie to put me on the list for the public gallery at the first sitting of the government in 2008.

I considered it an important addendum to the Mahon Tribunal’s investigations because several important questions had been unearthed during the Taoiseach’s questioning on the 20th and 21st of December 2007.

New figures revealed following the tribunal’s investigation found that Mr. Ahern’s compliance with tax laws were problematic.

The Taoiseach, formerly Minister for Finance, said that his compliance with tax requirements would be decided after the tribunal made its ruling a week before the Dail was due to resume government.

In the chamber of the Oireachtas Mr. Ahern refuted that claim,

“It is not correct. If I said so, I wasn’t correct, so I can’t recall if I did say, but I did not say, or if I did say it, I didn’t mean to say it, that these issues can’t be dealt with until the end of the Mahon tribunal”.

Watching the leader in action today in the Dail chamber was a revelation. Particularly telling was the poor attendance of government ministers after an initial vote. The place cleaned out in a few minutes, leaving Bertie and Brian Cowen mumbling to each other behind their hands.

As a signifier of the current dynamic of the government’s front bench, one need look no further than observing their seating habits in the Dail chamber.

Immediately following the vote, which was attended by all government ministers, there was an evacuation en masse prior to ‘leader’s questions’. The Taoiseach looked down at his pad, seemed to make notes. As the leader of the opposition, Enda Kenny opened up a barrage of strong criticism of the Taoiseach, the government ministers for supporting him and criticizing the tribunal’s activities subsequent to the Taoiseach’s last appearance there.

Mr. Ahern was permitted a response, he bumbled his way through it (above), uttering, as opposition leader Eamon Gilmore put it, a quadruple negative that he would have to reread from Dail transcripts to understand.

As leader’s questions continued, the government cabinet ministers imperceptibly disappeared into various ante-chambers. When Sinn Fein’s Caoimbin O’Caomhain, stood to ask the Taoiseach about his evidence to the tribunal only Brian Cowen, who faithfully sat by the Taoiseach and Martin Cullen-seated several empty places away-remained.

He struck an isolated figure, more so when Cowen excused himself. As he passed Cullen, he passed some comment. Cullen glanced at the Taoiseach seated alone now on the front bench, and moved to the seat next to him.

As leader’s questions continued Bertie’s chin disappeared deeper into this chest.

Later opposition call for a motion of confidence in the Mahon tribunal from the government

Pincer Movement by Opposition

Opposition party leaders Enda Kenny (Fine Gael) and Eamon Gilmore (Labour) attacked the Irish leader and his party Fianna Fail last weekend. Both called for the Taoiseach’s resignation following his evidence to the Mahon tribunal since September ‘07. The tribunal is investigating corrupt payment allegations against Mr. Ahern during the mid-90s when he was Minister for Finance. The allegations, made by embittered land developer Tom Gilmartin, are that Mr. Owen O’Callaghan, a cork property owner boasted he had Bertie in his pocket for two sums totallying 80,000 pounds. The subsequent Inquiry by the Mahon tribunal, has found significant sums of money moving in and out of the Irish prime minister’s accounts around the time in question. Each time Mr. Ahern, who promised a comprehensive accounting of all his finances prior to last year’s election, has given testimony, his explanations seem more indistinct and more funds are revealed. In a statement Mr. Kenny stated that Mr. Ahern had misled the Irish people in relation to his finances and his tax affairs.

Enda Kenny attacks Taoiseach

Full text of Mr Kenny’s statement on Taoiseach’s affairs:

More revelations of the Tribunal

Just before the Christmas break, the Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, appeared at the Tribunal. He gave evidence about his financial activities in the mid-90s.

He concluded this current round of questioning with a further revelation of receiving 5000 pounds.

All of this questioning is related to the so-called ‘dig-out’ that Mr. Ahern alleges he received; an explanation for Mr. Gilmartin’s allegations that he received a corrupt payment.

It would seem, in the light of the Tribunal’s investigations and the Irish leader’s explanations, that there are many questions pertaining to his financial dealings in his early career, as yet unanswered.

Why was he receiving funds from Willdover Ltd. If the funds were personal donations why were they concealed, through financial transactions and tranfers. If the funds were of a political nature why were they not defined as such.

Has Mr. Ahern paid tax on any of the funds. In the gallery of the Mahon Tribunal a learned lady, E., remarked upon the importance of tax compliance in relation to Bertie’s revelations about monies, sometimes significant amounts, which he received. My learned friend, who takes note of such transactions, remarked that the tax amounts due on the loans, if indeed they were loans, would be significant, not to mention interest acrued over the subsequent 10 year period.

Why have Mr. Ahern’s explanations differed, on many occasions, from the Tribunal’s discoveries of his financial activities.

In the absence of a clear and concise accounting for his financial transactions while he held the position of Minister for Finance and Taoiseach, is it appropriate that he continue as Leader of the Irish Nation.

The latter question has been dismissed by supporters of Mr. Ahern and his party; generally the response has been, Bertie has guided this country to unprecedented economic growth, or, he presided over a crucial stage of the peace process in the North. The premise of their argument being that his significant achievments outweigh any need for an objective analysis of his performance leading state institutions.

news_report1.pdf

The Temerity of the Taoiseach

As a student of the fourth estate it is my responsibility to have my personal and professional motives well aligned within the ethical lines of my vocation. What am I doing, and why. In particular I try to adhere to the National Union of Journalist’s guidelines. For some Solomon reason I must, attempt at least, to view all sides of a story with impartiality; thus my own writings on the Tribunal should reflect this same equivocal neutrality.As this is a blog, however, and bounded only by my imagination, I hereby enact the ‘I’ll Say What I Want Protocol’. I may, herein, rove in whatever fashion I so please.There are times as I sit and watch the Taoiseach, answering questions about his finances in the 90s, when I am enraged. Our glorious leader, our honest John, Our Bertie, blurting out unbelievable blurb. Sometimes I seeth at the temerity of his testimony. His marriage left him broke. Without a farthing. Yet he had 54 grand. He knew nothing about a dig-out before it happened, yet he opened a Special Savings Account two weeks prior, if a forged receipt is any evidence. In such dire financial straights, was it prudent, or indeed ethical, of AIB to lend him an unsecured loan and not charge him interest on it for 18 months. Was it appropriate, that as Taoiseach he was receiving checks from Wildover Ltd. Or that the shelf company, received and distributed, large sums of money, administered by Des Richardson. And a thousand other questions. The real question is how long will Bertie continue to mislead the Tribunal. He misled the Tribunal for one and a half years concerning the sterling sums he received. He misled the country when interviewed by Brian Dobson in September 2006, when he teared-up over his marital separation; a dig-out from friends he blubbed. He misled the electorate when he proclaimed all would be made clear when he appeared in September 2007. In that month, he weaved a

miscellaneous patchwork of memory lapses, half-truths and excuses.Now here I stew. We’ve been hoodwinked. We’ve been bamboozled. We’ve been had. There was no goddamned dig-out. No whip-around. No Goddamned chance.The Times, ‘Dig outs queried’ reported likewiseNone of the Manchester posse, could provide any evidence of having given Bertie the alleged monies. Is it really likely that every single contributor at that fabled dinner had taken a thousand in petty cash from their respective businesses and not a docket, not a receipt, not a tag or a credit note, not a sausage remains? How far does the public’s credulity stretch. In a democracy, is it just to permit the sovereignty of one powerful individual, burdened with the rulership of our state, to reign supreme without censure or recourse. Or is there another reason for his continued erosion of the public’s faith in government. Could it be that you just don’t care anymore? Could it be that you are merely one individual in a nation of millions. One particle in the universe without power or gravitas. One cell in the body politic with no say in where you go. A body weakened with the cancerous cells of corruption. Perhaps there is no such thing as democracy. But forget about all that. Let’s get back to the facts. A Tribunal is a body of state. And if a witness willfully misleads or conceals facts from the Tribunal, it is a crime. Prosecutable by the High Court. Has Mr. Ahern willfully misled the Tribunal? My opinion, is yes, perhaps more, perhaps less than any other before it. All human life is here, Gilmartin, the embittered land developer, a political system undermined by the powerful lobby of private sector land development ,and TDs in our government. Manchester businessmen ‘in the circle’. Public representatives from across the Irish political spectrum implicated in countless double-deals and goings on. And it’s been going on for 10 years. Why aren’t there demonstrations? Oh, that’s easy, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat.

Bertie’s Special Savings Account

Today the Taoiseach was presented with a photocopy of a form he signed to open a special savings account in December of 1993.The form was one of many provided to the court by Allied Irish Banks complying with an Order for Discovery from the Mahon Tribunal.The Tribunal’s inquiries then focused on a date which had been altered on the form. Forensic analysis confirmed “There is strong evidence that the original date on the AIB bank form read “14th of December 1993″.The exchanges between the Tribunal’s lawyer, Des O’Neill SC and the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern became heated with the Taoiseach saying: “it’s none of your damn business.” When quizzed about a myriad of unaccounted for transactions. When confronted with a falsified SSA account containing his signature. Mr. Ahern contested this by calling for his diary entries for the 14th of Decemberr 1993 to be reproduced on-screen (clearly a planned defense on his part). The Taoiseach’s day was full. O’Neill goes through the official diary, created by his secretary, for December 14th 1993. He had a government meeting from 11:30 ’till lunch. He met Paul Tansey, a journalist, for lunch in The Davenport Hotel. 14:30 Taoiseach’s questions. Seamus Brennan, who was the the Chairman of a task force on Small Business. He met, among others that day, Sean Healy at 15:00, Liam Murphy @ 15:45, the Dail, etc. Hardly room for Mr. Burns or Mr. Murphy from AIB. Though O’Neill did stress on several occasions that the Taoiseach need not necessarily attend each occasion throughout. The Taoiseach blustered: “But I can tell you, I wasn’t in the bank, and I wasn’t.Bertie Ahern didn’t sign it on that date because I couldn’t have been.” It seemed a strange lapse, that the Taoiseach refer to himself in the third person. And vaguely facinating.

A Tribunal of Inquiry

It is an arm of state, granted legal status, by an Act of Parliament in 1921. During the war for Independence English legal sovereignty extended to the second city of its empire. The act which consolidated about 30 others on Inquiries provided for a Tribunal to investigate “matters of urgent public importance”.Being a statutory body, equal to the High Court, it has the power to enforce the attendance of witnesses on oath, and to attain documents from any source. The Act could also find a witness guilty of contempt for not complying with its orders. The Tribunal must also be administered in public, except where it judged it necessary to be in private.As was the case when Bertie, made his first appearance at the Tribunal.The maintenance of this privacy was another matter. Certain details from the Irish leader’s statement, were made public in September 2006, they featured his explanations about sums of money that he received in the mid-90s, he was subsequently cross-examined in public. I attended all of those appearances; save 2 hours when I was in college for ‘newsday’.

credit to photograpr

credit to photographer

Mr. Ahern’s comments were dissembling and obstructive, to the Tribunal’s inquiry. We heard how his legal team delayed repeatedly over a long period in replying to the Tribunal’s communications. We heard the Taoiseach give conflicting evidence concerning the money he received in 94 and 95.By the time his sessions had concluded, he had changed his recollections concerning certain monies he had recieved several times.However, as the Tribunal’s terms of referance state, that it can impose no sentence nor administer any punishment, being essentially a fact finding excercise reporting to the government.That said, if revelations continue as thick and fast as they did this week about Bertie’s ‘manchester dig-out’ then the court of public support may continue its deterioration. Bertie’s supposed ‘friends’ seem to be few and far between.