Television pictures of US President George Bush in his vest which sparked a rash of security stories in today's news media were shot by mistake by a Government film crew, the Taoiseach said today.
The pictures of the President at the window of his hotel room during the EU-US summit at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, were flashed around the world after journalists covering the summit saw them in the media area near the Castle.
The Government issued a statement demanding television networks refrain from broadcasting the images. However, a number of Irish newspapers published photographs today.
Mr Ahern told Sky's Sunday With Adam Boultonprogramme: "Frankly, what happened is that a camera, a number of crew that were operating that were working actually for the Irish government, and the cameras were meant to have been off five minutes earlier.
"Certainly a camera crew that was working for us should not have been filming George Bush's bedroom, I mean, that isn't what we're meant to be doing."
He added: "In actual fact he looks a very fit man, probably far fitter than me, he goes out jogging and cycling everyday and he's a very healthy looking fellow."
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said he totally rejected claims that the footage had broken strict security measures. "At no time was there a risk to the President as all personnel, including media, at Dromoland Castle had been security screened and vetted," he said.
He added he had travelled to Shannon yesterday to oversee the Garda operation along with Deputy Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.
The President's visit saw the largest ever security operation in the State's history with some 6,000 Gardaí and Defence Forces staff monitoring less than 1,000 protesters, at an estimated cost of €3 million to the Irish taxpayer.