Ahern admits regret over signing blank cheques

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern said yesterday he regretted signing blank cheques with which Charles Haughey used to steal money from taxpayers.

However, the Taoiseach insisted he stood by the lavish praise he heaped on Mr Haughey at his funeral when he called his disgraced former mentor “a patriot to his fingertips”.

The move prompted Labour leader Pat Rabbitte to brand the Taoiseach a “hypocrite” in light of the Moriarty Tribunal report finding Mr Haughey took the equivalent of €45 million in clandestine payments as he sold influence for cash.

Mr Ahern admitted practices within Fianna Fáil, which included his counter-signing of blank cheques Mr Haughey then used to pay for personal luxuries were “entirely wrong”.

The Moriarty report ruled Mr Ahern facilitated the misuse of party funds by Mr Haughey by signing the cheques for monies from the Leader’s Account holding taxpayers’ funds provided for legitimate expenses.

However, the inquiry found Mr Ahern did not know how Mr Haughey was using the money. Mr Ahern was a co-signatory of the account from 1984 to 1992 and pre-signed most of the 1,615 cheques drawn in that period.

“The vast, vast majority of cheques that I had signed were used for appropriate purposes. A smaller group of them weren’t, that’s regrettable,” the Taoiseach said.

Mr Ahern added there was no conflict in him criticising Mr Haughey’s actions and the glowing oration he gave at the former Taoiseach’s funeral in June.

“I think the things I said at the ard fheis back in ’96/’97 were true, that these were practices that were entirely wrong, ones that brought huge discredit to the man and to everything associated with him.

“I also think the things I said about him earlier on this year at his funeral were also true,” Mr Ahern said.

Mr Rabbitte said the scale of blank cheque signing raised serious questions about Mr Ahern’s judgment. “The hypocrisy of Bertie Ahern knows no bounds. Having delivered a mawkish eulogy at the funeral of his political mentor only six months ago, he now seeks to distance himself from Charles Haughey when the truth about his corrupt record is revealed in Moriarty in black and white.

“Mr Ahern can regard himself as being treated very gently by the tribunal. There is no doubt that his willingness to sign blank cheques made it much easier for Charlie Haughey to abuse the taxpayers’ money he received through the leader’s allowance. How is it that none of those politically close to Haughey asked how he could have maintained such a lavish lifestyle on the strength of his Taoiseach’s salary? Was it that they were afraid to ask the questions, or afraid of the answers they might get?” he said.