Four of the 12 men identified as donors by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday have served on public boards. Also, the solicitor who acted for Mr Ahern in his separation in the early 1990s, Gerry Brennan, was appointed to the board of Eircom in November 1992. Mr Brennan had a solicitor's practice on Mount Street, Dublin. He died in 1997.
A number of those identified have been appointed to public boards by Mr Ahern's governments. Mr Ahern said he appointed the men because they were friends and not because they had given him money.
Des Richardson, a successful political fundraiser and long-time associate of Mr Ahern, was appointed to the board of Aer Lingus in November 1997 and served on the board until November 2002. As a member of the board, he and his family were entitled to concession rate travel.
Joe Burke, a builder and former Fianna Fáil councillor in Dublin, was appointed chairman of the Dublin Port Company in 2002, just after that year's general election was called. The appointment was made by the then minister for the marine, Frank Fahey, after Mr Burke had asked Mr Ahern for the appointment.
Jim Nugent, a businessman and consultant, served three terms as chairman of the State tourism training agency, Cert. He resigned in November 1997.
David McKenna, a businessman who ran a very successful publicly quoted recruitment firm, Marlborough, during the 1990s, was a member of the board of Enterprise Ireland from March 1999 to March 2001.
The other donors identified by Mr Ahern include two publicans, a landlord and an auctioneer. Some of those named are known to be strong supporters of Mr Ahern and to have an involvement in his constituency machine.
Padraic O'Connor, a former economist with the Department of Finance and the Central Bank, who gave advice to Mr Ahern in the early 1990s when he worked for Dermot Desmond's NCB and Mr Ahern was minister for finance, was also named as a donor. Mr O'Connor is understood to have advised Mr Ahern during the currency crisis in the early 1990s.
One of those named by Mr Ahern, Mick Collins, could not be identified last night. A spokeswoman for Fianna Fáil said she would not be helping identify the people named by Mr Ahern.
