The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, has chosen to make no public comment to date on reports that he received money from at least one building firm. A Government spokesman has confirmed that Mr Burke received £30,000 as an election subscription during the 1989 general election. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who dispatched his then chief whip, Mr Dermot Ahern, to London to investigate the matter, before appointing Mr Burke to his Cabinet, is fully satisfied that no impropriety was involved.
Despite these assurances, Mr Burke does not yet seem entirely out of the woods. Fine Gael is now seeking a "comprehensive statement" from the Minister about reports that he received money from building firms. The statement was issued on foot of a report in the Sunday Times that Mr Burke received further amounts. Some in Fianna Fail are said to be weary of these continued allegations against Mr Burke. There is a suggestion that previous speculation about Mr Burke is being recycled as part of a concerted attempt to embarrass the new Government.
That said, Mr Ahern will know that the Fine Gael demands must increase the pressure on Mr Burke to explain the full background to the payments. In demanding a full statement, Fine Gael has also called on the Taoiseach to publish the relevant extracts from Fianna Fail party accounts to show exactly how much Mr Burke received during 1989. The Fine Gael statement also gets to the kernel of the issue: "It is not in the interest of Ireland's international reputation that questions of this nature should circulate around the country's foreign minister without a comprehensive and credible statement from him to allay concerns."
Mr Ahern might also reflect on Mr Burke's importance in the Northern peace process. Mr Burke deserves great credit for his work in helping to broker a new IRA ceasefire. His will continue to be an influential voice in the process once the Stormont talks resume in September. If there is an agreement between the parties by the deadline of May 1998, Mr Burke will occupy a pivotal role in talks about the future of this island - perhaps the most critical set of negotiations since the foundation of the State. He will not want to find himself encumbered by questions about what happened in 1989. For his part, the Taoiseach must also be anxious to put this troublesome business to rest before the Dail meets to consider the McCracken report and before the presidential election campaign begins in earnest. Since his landmark ardfheis speech, Mr Ahern, has, to his credit, set great store by the right of the public to expect the highest standards from those in the party. Mr Burke himself will now appreciate the importance of being seen to uphold these standards at a time when the McCracken tribunal has fuelled public cynicism about the relationship between politics and business. With a breathing space in the peace process, and with the Dail in recess, Mr Burke now has an opportunity to prepare a detailed response to the questions raised by the Opposition. He should seize this opportunity without any further delay.