A £22,500 goodwill loan to Bertie Ahern in 1993 was accepted by him "with a view ultimately to acquiring a property for himself", rather than to cover legal expenses associated with his marital separation, the Mahon tribunal was told yesterday. Fiona Gartlandreports.
Des Richardson, former chief fund-raiser for Fianna Fáil, was examined yesterday on the circumstances surrounding a "goodwill loan" of £22,500, given to Mr Ahern in December 1993.
The collection was made by Mr Richardson and the late Gerry Brennan, solicitor to Mr Ahern, on the basis that Mr Ahern needed assistance to pay his legal fees. Mr Richardson told the tribunal he did not know until this year that Mr Ahern had taken out a bank loan to cover his legal expenses.
Des O'Neill SC, counsel for the tribunal, said the purpose for which the money was gathered was not the purpose for which it was spent. "The purpose was to generally acquire funds with a view ultimately to acquiring property for himself at a later stage," Mr O'Neill said.
He told the tribunal that in private interview, the Taoiseach said he would have alerted the contributors to the fact that he had already taken out a loan to cover his legal expenses and he kept the money on the basis that it was for other than legal costs and it would be repaid.
"There is a clear conflict there Mr Richardson, isn't there, between what Mr Ahern is telling the tribunal . . . and your recollection?" Mr O'Neill asked.
Mr Richardson said if Mr Ahern had explained that he had already taken out a loan to cover his legal costs to Mr Brennan, he may have told Mr Brennan to pass on that information, but Mr Brennan never mentioned it to him. "I only found out recently that Mr Ahern borrowed £19,000 or £20,000 to pay his legal fees," he said.
Mr Richardson said the motivation for the collection was to "give a helping hand to a friend".
Cash of £15,000 was collected from six people: Dave McKenna, Jim Nugent, the late Fintan Gunne, Michael Collins, Charlie Chawke and the late Paddy Reilly. The men were chosen because they were friends of Mr Ahern, Mr Brennan and Mr Richardson. They were all southsiders, Mr Richardson said, and they could afford it. The contributors gave £2,500 each.
One cheque for £2,500 was also given to Mr Ahern made out to cash from Willdover Ltd and signed by Mr Richardson. A bank draft of £5,000 was presented to Mr Ahern, which was made out to and endorsed by Mr Richardson.
The money was given to Mr Ahern by Mr Brennan on December 27th in St Luke's in Drumcondra, where Mr Ahern had his office. The handover took place in private during an annual gathering.
Mr Brennan came up with the idea for the collection after Mr Ahern rejected the idea of a fundraising dinner with 25 guests at £1,000 a head, Mr Richardson said, and he was told by him of Mr Ahern's situation "during a quick chat over a pint".
Mr O'Neill asked why it was thought necessary that Mr Ahern's personal liabilities should be met in full by his friends, given that he had a good job as minister for finance.
"There was a general view in Drumcondra that he wasn't in the best of shape financially," Mr Richardson replied. He added that he had done something similar for other people in the past.
He also said that the matter was mentioned to him by Mr Brennan and he thought Mr Brennan knew something he didn't. Mr O'Neill said Mr Richardson was probably not aware that Mr Ahern had £50,000 in savings at the time.
Mr Richardson's evidence will continue today.