MAHON TRIBUNAL:HEARINGS AT the Mahon tribunal were adjourned yesterday to allow the tribunal time to study documents provided by the Taoiseach's constituency office on Wednesday and to give the constituency time to produce "crucial" information.
Three witnesses from the constituency, including Tim Collins, a member of the St Luke's House Committee and the signatory to an account being investigated by the tribunal, had been scheduled to give evidence.
Mr Collins was to be asked about the "B/T" account, opened at the Irish Permanent Building Society in 1989 as a building trust to finance improvement works to St Luke's, the Fianna Fáil constituency office in Drumcondra.
It was into the "B/T" account that a £5,000 donation from Davy Stockbrokers to Bertie Ahern was lodged in January 1993 and out of this account that a £30,000 loan was given to Mr Ahern's former partner Celia Larkin in 1993. The loan was given so that elderly relatives of Ms Larkin could buy out the interest of their home after its owner died. The house was bought in Ms Larkin's name.
The tribunal is also to inquire into the "CODR" account, Cumann O'Donovan Rossa, referred to by Mr Ahern in his evidence last week.
Judge Alan Mahon said the tribunal had received "an amount of documentation" relevant to matters which would be the subject of the cross-examination scheduled, but it had not yet had the opportunity to peruse the material.
"Furthermore, the tribunal has been advised by your solicitors that a process is now under way to determine if additional records exist," the judge said.
He said the additional documentation would be crucial to the cross-examination of the witnesses, and so they had decided to adjourn the evidence of those three witnesses to March 11th.
Hugh Mohan SC, counsel for Fianna Fáil Dublin Central constituency office holders, said he did not want "the impression to go out" that in some way the constituency was not co-operating. Mr Mohan had appeared before the tribunal last week looking for an extension to comply with the tribunal's order of discovery. It had requested documents including minutes of meetings from 1989 to 1995.
Mr Mohan drew attention to a remark made by Judge Mahon last week when he asked for an extension of time.
"You made the point, why not produce the documentation," Mr Mohan said. "You will know that we made our submissions within the deadline, an order was made despite our submissions. We accept the order . . . we have moved very quickly indeed to try and give you all of the documentation."
He said part of the order covered 28 cumainn, the comhairle ceantar and the comhairle Dáil ceantar and there was a trawling exercise that had to be done.
He said the process began with one letter in November to Mr Collins, who was both away and sick at the time. Since the organisation became involved in February, "strident attempts" were being made to comply with the order.
"The comment I made about 'will you provide documentation, why don't you/' - that was said in the heat of the moment," Judge Mahon said.
"I'm glad that's been clarified, Mr chairman," Mr Mohan replied.
