Publican Charlie Chawke has said he was not aware that a contribution he made to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for his legal expenses in 1993 was used toward the purchase of a house. Fiona Gartlandreports.
Mr Chawke told the Mahon tribunal yesterday that Mr Ahern did thank him for the contribution and said he would pay it back, but never mentioned he had taken out a bank loan to cover legal expenses associated with his marital separation. Nor did he mention that the £2,500 contributed from Mr Chawke would be used towards the purchase of a house.
The tribunal heard that Mr Ahern said in private interview that he "would have alerted" the donors that he took out a bank loan to pay his legal bills and "acquainted them" with the fact that he was going to use their contributions towards the cost of a house.
Mr Chawke's contribution was part of a £22,500 dig-out organised in 1993 by former Fianna Fáil fundraiser Des Richardson and the late Gerry Brennan, solicitor for Mr Ahern.
Mr Chawke told the tribunal that Mr Richardson and Mr Brennan were regular patrons at his bar, The Goat Grill, in Goatstown, Dublin. On one occasion in late 1993, Mr Chawke said, they were both at the counter and he had a chat with him. Mr Brennan explained that Mr Ahern was facing a large legal bill and that he "wasn't a wealthy man".
"It was decided we would have a whip around to defray some of these costs," Mr Chawke said. "It was decided I'd give £2,500 toward it, which I did, a few days later in cash," Mr Chawke said.
Counsel for the tribunal, Henry Murphy SC, asked who suggested the whip around. Mr Chawke said "one or other of us".
He said he had never made any contribution to Mr Ahern before or since.
"If you had known . . . that Mr Ahern had £50,000 in savings, would that have affected your decision?" Mr Murphy asked.
"No, I would have believed what Gerry Brennan told me," Mr Chawke replied. He said he had also helped other people out financially when it was needed.
Mr Murphy asked him why he donated the sum in cash.
"I'm in the cash business and it would be cash people need when they are in trouble," Mr Chawke said.
He said he was always in the habit of keeping "a few shillings for the rainy day".
"I'm a gatherer rather than a scatterer with money . . . a collector, and I always have money," he said.
He said he was a good personal friend of Mr Ahern and Mr Richardson. He met Mr Ahern at political events and social occasions, including Croke Park, the racecourse and at funerals.
He said the loan was just a goodwill gesture - "a few quid to a friend".
He said afterwards he asked Mr Brennan how Mr Ahern took it and was told that he "was very emotional about it" and had said he would only take it if he could pay it back.
He said he met Mr Ahern some time later and he was thanked for his contribution.
When the money was eventually returned, by cheque in September 2006, Mr Chawke said he hadn't really been expecting it.
"I didn't ever think that I'd get it back, I didn't need it back, I didn't want it really," he said.
He endorsed the cheque and arranged for it to be sent to the Cari Foundation, a charity supported by Miriam Ahern.
"Is it possible you treated the cheque in this way . . . because you never made a contribution of £2,500 in the first instance in December 1993?" Mr Murphy asked.
"That is totally incorrect," Mr Chawke replied.