Mahon Tribunal
Fianna Fail attempt to discredit tribunal

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Paul Murphy

As the evidence from the Mahon Tribunal mounts against Bertie Ahern, he and other leading government ministers have attacked the Tribunal. One after another, cabinet ministers including Dermot Ahern, Micheal Martin, Willie O’Dea and Seamus Brennan have all criticised the tribunal’s treatment of the Taoiseach.

It is a sign of the concern in Fianna Fail circles about the revelations, that they are trying to discredit the Tribunal. Elder statesman of Fianna Fail, Martin Mansergh TD, summed up their approach in an appeal to other party members: “If we don’t hang together, we will hang separately”.

Bertie Ahern himself made an incredible attack, attempting to present the questioning at the Tribunal as going “beyond the bounds of common decency” and prying into his private life. This bears no relation to reality. It was Ahern himself who brought his bedroom in St. Luke’s into the Tribunal, by implausibly claiming that it was the only room in St. Luke’s which he had exclusive use of.

The latest revelation, that Ahern is unable to get a tax compliance certificate, only provokes even more questions about his finances. Correspondence from the Revenue Commissioners clearly demonstrates that while Ahern was claiming in the Dail that he had paid capital gains tax, he hadn’t. Ahern’s allies have also been forced to say that his references in the Dail to consulting “the tax authorities”, actually meant his tax advisers, not the Revenue Commissioners. The other obvious question is, if Ahern is currently unable to get a tax compliance certificate because of his dealings in the 1990s, how did he obtain the certificate he got after the 2002 election?

More attacks on the Tribunal in the coming weeks and months are likely, as Ahern and co. try to throw sand in the eyes of ordinary people, to cover up corruption at the highest level.

Mahon Tribunal
If only we all had such generous friends!

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Diana Ni Dhuibhir

The Mahon Tribunal gives an insight into a year in the life of Bertie Ahern’s finances. From December 1993 to December 1994, the Minister for Finance received for his personal use from various “friends” IR£39,000 and £38,000stg - not far off €250,000 in today’s money.

The “close” “personal” friends who gave him the IR£39,000 include property developers, publicans and the manager of a stockbroking firm. Despite Bertie’s claims that they were “people who were close to me for most of my life”, two have testified that they did not consider him a friend.

He can’t have been great friends with the 25 businessmen who gave him £8,000stg in Manchester later that year either, as he can only remember two of their names. The event organiser has since died, but he did get ?1m in state aid for his company before his death. Lots of Bertie’s “close” friends fared quite well in life actually – four even ended up with jobs on state boards!

Millionaire businessman Micheal Wall was another great friend of Bertie’s – as well as the £30,000stg he gave him that year, he let him live in a house belonging to him, paying less rent than the mortgage repayments, and then sold it to him at a loss of IR£28,000.

While all this unsolicited generosity was being bestowed upon him, Bertie already had IR£50,000 in savings, which he allegedly saved from 1987 to 1993 (approximately £8,333 a year). According to Village, his net annual ministerial income would have been about £11,000 after tax and maintenance payments. So poor Bertie was living off £2,667 a year so he could amass £50,000 in cash he kept in a safe rather than a bank account at a time of historically high interest rates. Just as well he left the day job of accountancy and turned to politics, where it’s amazing the friends you make.

The Rich List
2007 - The year of the rich

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Richard Manton

The Irish Rich List, compiled by the Sunday Times, reads more like an attendance sheet of the Moriarty Tribunal than a list of hard working entrepreneurs. Notable entries in the rich list include Tony O’Reilly, media tycoon, at number three with €2.5 billion; dodgy businessman Denis O’Brien in fourth with €2.3 billion, and financier Dermot Desmond in fifth with a mere €2.1 billion.

The list of 50 includes a remarkable 20 property developers and speculators, more than any other profession. These are the people that make their millions and billions from the misery of our forty year mortgages and sprawling housing developments. The lack of transport and educational infrastructure to cater for these new developments is none of their concern.

It’s when we look at their lifestyles that we truly see how well the Irish rich have it. While the demand for luxury sports cars continues to grow, helicopter sales have quadrupled since 2000, with models ranging in price between €100,000 and ?2.5 million. Other splurges include €10m works of art, mansion estates, yachts, jewellery and holidays.

Meanwhile the crises in the health, education and transport systems and spiralling fuel and food prices continue into 2008. Despite this, the 150 richest people in the country, with a combined wealth of €40 billion, pay less than 30% tax and many pay none at all. This low tax regime is a conscious policy of Fianna Fáil and the PDs, but Fine Gael and Labour are no different with multiple tax amnesties brought in for the rich in the last rainbow coalition. The ongoing scandal in the finances of Bertie Ahern can leave no-one in doubt as to why the right wing politicians really represent the rich of the country.