'I never received a bribe in my life' - Ahern

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has issued a statement insisting once again that he never accepted a bribe

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has issued a statement insisting once again that he never accepted a bribe. The statement was released in response to comments made on radio this morning by Ireland on Sundayjournalist, Mr Frank Connolly.

The Taoiseach said that a judge found that he had been defamed after he sued Mr Denis O'Brien over allegations made in the Sunday Business Postthat he had received money from the Cork businessman in the car-park of a Dublin hotel.

On radio this morning, Mr Connolly asked why the Taoiseach hadn't sued the Sunday Business Postafter it published the allegations.

In his statement, Mr Ahern said he had not sued the newspaper because he "was not concerned with the issue of money." Instead he sued Mr O'Brien and "won that case because the allegation. . .was baseless and totally untrue."

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"I succeeded in my Circuit Court action for one reason and one reason only. That is I was defamed and lies were told about me. It is wrong for Frank Connolly to say that the case 'collapsed' because Denis 'Starry' O'Brien 'decided not to contest the charge' and that the Taoiseach 'claimed' vindication'."

The Taoiseach's statement goes on to say that the court had found that: no cheques or cash were given to him by Mr O'Brien; the bank account shown to Frank Connolly as evidence never existed and Mr O'Brien was "not even in Dublin or in the Burlington Hotel on the day this alleged bribe was given to me".

Mr Ahern says he won the case because "I was wrongly defamed. The presiding judge said that the statement that I received a £50,000 bribe was 'utterly, completely and absolutely false and untrue'".

"I think the least I am entitled to is a clear and unequivocal acceptance that I won my case because lies were told about me," the statement concludes.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor