FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he was not impoverished, but not wealthy, when he was given a sum of £16,500 by a group of businessmen in 1994 despite already having savings of up to £70,000.

FORMER plasterer Paddy Reilly warned the Mahon Tribunal legal team yesterday not to accuse him of lying over a £16,500 cash “dig-out” he and other friends gave Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in September 1994.

The Mahon Tribunal is due to hear more evidence today from two of the men who the Taoiseach says gave him cash in a pub in 1994.

PUBLICAN Dermot Carew told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he handed over IR£16,500 in cash to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, with the comment: “Bert, the boys and myself want you to have that”.