Former taoiseach Albert Reynolds said last night that a visit he made to the Bahamas in March 1994 was an official government trip and insisted it did not involve any unscheduled stopover, as was suggested at the Mahon tribunal.
Mr Reynolds also rejected suggestions that the six-hour stopover at Freeport on the way back to Ireland had anything to do with fundraising activities he had allegedly carried out for Fianna Fáil in the United States. "I never personally handled a halfpenny collected for Fianna Fáil either in the United States or in this country," he said.
He described as "utter nonsense" claims by developer Tom Gilmartin that he had been given £150,000 in Cork by property developer Owen O'Callaghan in March 1994, or that he had been involved in fundraising activity while on a St Patrick's Day visit to the US.
The 10-day trip made by Mr Reynolds to the US and the Bahamas from March 12th to 22nd, 1994, was the subject of evidence given to the tribunal yesterday by Air Corps chief Brig Gen Ralph James.
He said Mr Reynolds and a number of officials were flown to New York on the government jet on March 12th 1994. Mr Reynolds and his party travelled on to Chicago, Washington and Hartford before flying to Nassau, in the Bahamas.
Mr James said that all of the flights were planned before the aircraft left Dublin, but on March 21st there was one change to the itinerary involving a flight from Nassau to Freeport, another of the Grand Bahamas. He said the extra flight was made on the request of Mr Reynolds through his liaison contact on the flight. There was a six-hour stopover in Freeport before the flight continued home to Dublin.
Fianna Fáil TD Martin Mansergh said last night he was a member of the taoiseach's delegation to the US in March 1994, as a special adviser on Northern Ireland.
"At the end of the visit on March 19th, which included functions in a number of cities as well as St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington, the taoiseach flew from Hartford, Connecticut, to the Bahamas for the first official visit from Ireland, which was neither 'informal' nor 'unscheduled', and which lasted three days from Saturday till Monday inclusive.
"He was greeted with full military honours, including a multigun army salute, by the prime minister of the Bahamas at the airport. Later that Saturday afternoon, officials from both governments, including myself, sat down to explore a number of areas of co-operation. That evening, Tony O'Reilly, chairman of Independent Newspapers, hosted a dinner for Albert Reynolds and his delegation, which was attended by half the cabinet of the Bahamas, at his home at Lyford Quay.
"On Monday 21st, March 1994, there were resumed talks chaired by taoiseach and prime minister, and a number of visits made to small enterprises and to the principal harbour on another island in the Bahamas. The whole emphasis of the visit was on economic development and mutual co-operation."