Ahern payments article: no jail motion for journalists

THE likelihood of Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy and journalist Colm Keena going to prison diminished greatly yesterday when no motion for committal to prison was brought by the Mahon Tribunal over the controversial Bertie Ahern “dig-out” payments story.

The Mahon Tribunal yesterday started proceedings in the High Court aimed at compelling the newspaper to produce the document which led to a front page article revealing that the Taoiseach received substantial cash payments from businessmen when he was minister for finance in 1993.

Counsel for the Mahon Tribunal told the High Court yesterday that it wanted to “very effectively demonstrate” in the action against the Irish Times that the tribunal was not the source of information which led to the article.