Manchester fallout: the payment which threatens future of Taoiseach

WHAT is known about the Manchester payment?

In September 1994, Bertie Ahern travelled to Manchester for a weekend.

As a Manchester United fan, he has been a regular at Old Trafford for over 35 years. As a politician, he has also addressed many Irish associations in the city and has also attended St Patrick’s Day events.

On this weekend, Mr Ahern was accompanied by some close friends from Drumcondra. The only one of those who has confirmed he travelled was Tony Kett, a close supporter and senator since 1997.

During the weekend, Mr Ahern was the guest at a dinner attended by prominent Irish business people in Manchester, as well as the group who travelled over with him from Dublin.

Mr Ahern said it was an ad hoc event but not the first to have taken place. During the four-hour dinner, he spoke about the Irish economy and did a question-and-answer session with the guests.

To his surprise, according to his account, those at the dinner presented him with £8,000 sterling after the dinner, the equivalent of €10,000. He later lodged it into his bank account.

He said it wasn’t a fee, a loan, or political donation. Though he didn’t use the word, it can be assumed he regarded it as a gift.

The green book for ministers lays down guidelines on gifts. But Mr Ahern justified the gift on the basis he had travelled to Manchester in a private capacity.

This payment must be distinguished from the two other payments he received in 2003 and 2004 as he didn’t regard it as a loan. However, it is understood its timing — a month before he received the second payment of £16,500 — meant it was part of the general scheme to give Bertie a “dig-out”. A whip around to pay his bills.

Until 1999, a gift of under £11,000 was not liable to tax. Nor did a payment like this have to be declared, as ethics legislation pertaining to public representatives did not come into being until 1995. It is the optics — and the perception of standards — of this payment that will cause him immense difficulties.