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

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slan

CitiZenJon

started up a new blog,

http://citizenjon2008dublincastle.wordpress.com/

J.

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 Ahern revealed for the first time that his lover Celia Larkin had withdrawn 30,000 pounds from the account to purchase property in his constituency.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

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

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:

“With prices and unemployment rising and tax revenue and house prices falling, the Taoiseach and his Government have serious problems of their own making that they should be 100 per cent focused on. Unfortunately for the taxpayer struggling to pay a mortgage or a patient trying to access urgent healthcare this Taoiseach and his Cabinet are constantly being distracted and diverted from their day jobs by the circus of fantasy and fairytale surrounding the Taoiseach’s financial affairs. Too often the Taoiseach and this Cabinet are obliged to explain the unexplainable and defend the indefensible.

“Last September, I set out in detail why we cannot have confidence in Bertie Ahern and why he should step down. The revelations since then, especially his failure to pay his taxes, only add to the case against the Taoiseach staying in power. I again call on the Taoiseach to step down.

“Given that the cowardly Cabinet, whether the Greens, PDs or Fianna Fáil, are unwilling to force this outcome it is clear that the only person in a position to end this sorry saga is the Tánaiste, Brian Cowen. The man who declared that he did not need the Greens to keep him honest should now recognise that it is not acceptable to have a Taoiseach who cannot declare compliance with the tax codes, who cannot explain €300,000 worth of lodgements to his accounts and who has clearly misled the public and the Dáil over his inexplicable finances.

“If Mr Ahern does not step down, then the Tánaiste should act.

“Since September 2006, at every turn, the Taoiseach has portrayed himself as somebody who has been put upon and victimised. He has lashed out at the media, at the Mahon tribunal and anyone who questions his extraordinary stories. The reality is that the only person responsible for the difficulties the Taoiseach now finds himself in is the Taoiseach himself.

“It is Mr Ahern who had €300,000 in today’s terms lodged, in cash, to his or his partners accounts over a two-year period. It is Mr Ahern whose explanations for those lodgements have changed by the day and remain as incredible as ever. It is Mr Ahern who has misled the Irish people in relation to his tax affairs. It is Mr Ahern who is not in a position as a serving Taoiseach to assure the Irish people that his tax affairs are in order.

“Scarcely a week goes by without yet another contradiction of what the Taoiseach has already said or new information which adds further to the extraordinary stories of the large amounts of money washing around his accounts in the mid 1990s.

“In my period in public life I have found the Irish people to be decent and forgiving. People know that politicians are not perfect in every way. They do not seek to intrude into the private lives of politicians. But they do expect their political leaders to behave in an honest manner.

“What the Irish people also care about is that they are not taken for fools.

“For months now we have seen the Taoiseach portray himself time and time again as a victim. Before he appeared at the Mahon tribunal, he assured everyone that he couldn’t wait to get before the judges and give a full and categorical explanation for his personal finances. Now that he has had six days at the tribunal, he is complaining that he is being victimised in some way and treated differently from other witnesses.

“The Taoiseach seems to have forgotten that as with Mr Ray Burke, the late Mr Liam Lawlor, Mr George Redmond and Mr Frank Dunlop the tribunal is following the money trail – a tried, tested and successful method for tribunals of inquiry.

“As Deputy Ahern himself said in the Dáil in September 1997 ‘following the money is the most efficient and effective way to progress this type of inquiry’.

“I believe that as he faces yet another length of questioning at the tribunal, the Taoiseach is at a crossroads. He has a clear choice.

“He can maintain his convoluted reconstructions, his selective memory, his reinterpretation of what the English language means. If he takes this path he condemns the Irish people to further months of revelation, claim and counter claim. He erodes further the reputation and authority of the Office of the Taoiseach. He demeans the profession of politics and most worrying of all he increases the cynicism about politics, a cynicism which was primed by his predecessor, Mr Charles J Haughey.

“Or Mr Ahern can go into the tribunal and give one full comprehensive and truthful account of his personal finances. A ‘warts and all’ confession which lays out clearly for the Irish people what amounts of money he received, who gave them to him and why they were given to him.

“The longer that Mr Ahern denies the truth to the Irish people the greater the damage will be to his political reputation and legacy when he leaves office as he proposes to do in the time ahead.

“I make this appeal to the Taoiseach because I believe that the Irish people want an explanation from him which they can believe. The Irish people want an end to this charade and they want the Government and the Dáil to focus on the many challenges facing the country as the economy tightens, many public services continue underperforming and crime remains ever present on our streets.

“If Mr Ahern refuses to adopt a new open and honest approach to this issue the political consequences are clear. My party, on our part, will continue to highlight the failure to come clean with the Irish people, the lack of credibility and the damage which he is doing to his office.

“In previous governments it was possible to look to junior partners to enforce some level of standards on Fianna Fáil. The junior partners in the current Government are impotent and passive accomplices. I do not expect either the Green Party or the PDs to take action. Both John Gormley and his Ministers along with Mary Harney have now chosen to put their Ministerial seats of office ahead of getting clear explanations and accountability from the Taoiseach.

“Deputy Brian Cowen has been nominated by Mr Ahern to succeed him on retirement. He is deputy leader of his party.

“Mr Cowen makes much of his own sense of integrity. He bitterly reminded the Green Party of his belief that he does not need anyone to clean up his politics. However with each day that goes by, Mr Cowen is being used as an accomplice by the Taoiseach in a great deception on the Irish people.

“As Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen sits beside a Taoiseach who has not paid his taxes. As deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, Mr Cowen sits beside a leader of Fianna Fáil who has not explained how a donation given for the party ended up in his own bank account. As Tánaiste, Mr Cowen sits beside a Taoiseach who has misled the Dáil in relation to his tax affairs and has refused to correct the record. “When eventually Mr Ahern goes down in flames as the mounting evidence becomes unbearable, Mr Cowen will not be able to claim that he did not know or that he had no information or that he could not act.

“The reality is Mr Cowen does know the Taoiseach has not paid his taxes. Mr Cowen does know the Taoiseach has misled the Dáil and the Irish people. Mr Cowen does know that the Taoiseach has not given any credible explanation for his personal finances.

“If Mr Cowen does not act, and I believe act urgently, he too will bear his responsibility for Mr Ahern continuing in office despite the compelling case for his removal.

“Other Fianna Fáil Ministers are equally culpable in this farce. They are happy to condone a situation where money destined for Fianna Fáil was diverted for the personal use of Mr Ahern.

“Not only will they not tackle the Taoiseach but they parade out in an orchestrated and sinister campaign to attack an institution set up by the Oireachtas to carry out an independent inquiry.

“To his credit, Mr Cowen did not engage in that attack. Perhaps his absence from the gaggle of Ministers lining up with their knives aimed at the Mahon tribunal provides a glimmer of hope that he may find his voice, find his courage and go to the Taoiseach and tell him that it’s time to go.

“As the country faces a range of serious economic and social challenges, the capacity of Government and politics in general to tackle these issues is diminished and distracted by the Taoiseach’s behaviour.

“Government mishandling of issues like driving licences, water charges and Ministerial pay increases is clear evidence of a Government at odds with itself, lacking leadership and direction and unsure and unable to make decisions in the public interest.”