Sale of passports to sheikh irregular, says McDowell

THE sale of 11 Irish passports for stg£20m to an Arab sheikh in 1991 was irregular and unusual, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said yesterday.

In hindsight, the controversial file on the Mahfouz passports raised serious questions into the role of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, the minister said.

“I am not in a position to supply any explanation from the file which I have examined for the then Taoiseach’s apparent interest in having the case processed with unusual haste,” he said.