Defiant Ahern admits error but withholds full apology

DEFIANT Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last night delivered a partial apology to the Irish people as he admitted taking money from businessmen and friends while Finance Minister was an “error of judgment”.

In a carefully worded Dáil statement aimed at keeping the Coalition together and drawing a line under the crisis dominating Government for the past two weeks, Mr Ahern said he regretted the choices he made in the “dark and difficult” times of the early 1990’s.

“It was not illegal or non-permissible to have done what I did. But I now regret the choices I made in those difficult and dark times.