The chairman of the Mahon Tribunal is expected to respond today to allegations of bias from lawyers representing the Taoiseach.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s lawyer yesterday launched a scathing attack on the Mahon Planning Tribunal and called the chief witness, developer Tom Gilmartin, a “puppet” for others to inflict political damage on his client.

The Mahon Tribunal has said a major discrepancy exists in relation to the Taoiseach's evidence about lodgements made to his bank accounts in the 1990s.

The Taoiseach has again insisted that the Planning Tribunal is not investigating anything to do with the STG£30,000 given to him by businessman Micheal Wall.

It is being reported that the Mahon Tribunal has raised questions about foreign exchange transactions relating to Bertie Ahern's finances during the 1990s.

FORMER Fine Gael Minister Michael Lowry may have been on an ego trip when he allegedly claimed to be linked to telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien’s purchase of English football league club Doncaster Rovers, the Moriarty Tribunal heard yesterday.

The Government is under pressure to allow more time for the Dáil to debate the controversy surrounding payments to the Taoiseach.

A junior partner in failed Cork stockbrokers, W&R Morrogh, has pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to fraudulently converting almost Stg £17,000.

A man who gave a false address paid Stg£10,000 cash in Northern Ireland currency to buy a badly damaged Scania truck from an English salvage company.

INVESTORS in Irish shares bear the brunt of the State’s annual 1.2 billion stamp duty haul, paying 28.75% of the duty compared to 22% paid by property purchasers.

Temenos [SWX:TEMN] has announced that it has concluded a contract for its TEMENOS GLOBUS private banking platform with Schroders Private Banking, a division of the Schroder Group.

Paris St Germain striker Laurent Robert has arrived on Tyneside to finalise a deal with Newcastle.

Manchester United's new Stg£2.5m goalkeeper Roy Carroll has made his Reds debut in a reserve friendly against Sheffield FC.

Manchester United had a record turnover of Stg£72m for the six-month period ending on January 31 of this year.

The Planning Tribunal has been told that Ray Burke had access to Stg£50,000 in an Isle of Man AIB account in 1982.