Gonzaga dinner: Tánaiste and Progressive Democrats leader Michael McDowell indicated last night that there had been "plenty of discussions" in relation to the ongoing controversy surrounding the personal finances of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Mr McDowell spoke as he arrived at a special dinner at his old school in Ranelagh, Dublin, which the Taoiseach was also attending as guest of honour.
Arriving at Gonzaga for the past pupils union annual dinner, Mr McDowell spoke very briefly to journalists as he made his way from his car to the school hall where the event was taking place.
Asked whether there had been talks on the ongoing controversy, he said: "We've had plenty of discussions, thanks very much."
He responded cryptically to another journalist who asked him whether trust had broken out: "Bread is better broken," he replied. He said "of course" he would be speaking to Mr Ahern at the private black tie event, which was attended by more than 300 past pupils.
Journalists waiting outside the school hall attracted bemused looks and comments from some of the arriving past pupils.
Mr Ahern flew back from Limerick and went to his constituency office, St Luke's in Drumcondra, before going across the city to Ranelagh.
He arrived at 8pm, 10 minutes after Mr McDowell, and was greeted by Robert Ryan, president of Gonzaga Past Pupils Union. He took no questions from journalists as he made his way into the hall, where he shook hands with a number of current pupils at the school .
Inside at the pre-dinner reception, Mr McDowell and Mr Ahern are understood to have greeted each other warmly and had a brief discussion before the dinner began. Mr Ahern was seated at the head table along with RTÉ's political correspondent David Davin-Power, a former pupil who acted as master of ceremonies for the evening. Mr McDowell was seated at another table as he was there in his capacity as a past pupil.
Green Party TDs and former pupils Ciarán Cuffe and Éamon Ryan were also there.
The guests at the €75-a-head dinner, including wine, sat down to a four-course dinner, which included chicken terrine, soup and escalope of pork.
Before the dinner began, the Taoiseach made a brief speech in which he paid tribute to the Jesuit order, which runs the school.
He also paid tribute to former tánaiste John Wilson, who taught at the school in the early 1970s before he became a TD.