‘Ahern wasn’t forced to bring up family issues’

THE opposition objected to the Taoiseach implying that he was forced to divulge his private family business in public because of the questions asked about the money he received in the early 1990s.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he respected Mr Ahern’s right to a private life and would not stray into that area. “No member of the opposition raised the issue of the Taoiseach’s sensitive, emotional marital circumstances. These were brought into the public domain by himself,” he said.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said Mr Ahern had used his family circumstances to create a context in which to explain the “loans” he said he received from friends in 1993 and was now trying to “drag the Manchester money in that same category”.