Bank official at a loss to explain tribunal statement

AIB official Jim McNamara had “no explanation” yesterday for telling the Mahon Tribunal in June 2006 he was unaware Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s former partner Celia Larkin handled large cash transactions at his Dublin branch.

The previous month Mr McNamara had drawn up a detailed list of movements in her bank accounts — at Ms Larkin’s written request. Records show some 18 lodgments and withdrawals totalling IR£122,856.39 over the eight-month period between February 1993 and November 1995.

Her solicitor, Hugh Millar, intervened to dispel the notion that Ms Larkin had been walking around with large amounts of cash when she had converted the money to bank drafts.

Suggesting Mr McNamara explain himself, tribunal lawyer Des O’Neill SC said the information he had given to the inquiry was “totally at odds” with the exercise he had conducted for Ms Larkin just the previous month.

Mr McNamara replied: “Unless at the time of my first interview I was trying to recall whether I was involved in the transactions. Apart from that I have no explanation.”

Ms Larkin’s request for bank details was made some 13 months before she was called to give a private interview to the tribunal.

Asked why Ms Larkin requested the bank details, Mr McNamara said it was because Mr Ahern was likely to be involved at the tribunal and she was associated with him.

Despite conducting an internal bank inquiry into the controversial IR£24,838.49 cash sum lodged by Mr Ahern to his own deposit account on October 11, 1994, Mr McNamara admitted he failed to tell the tribunal it possibly involved a foreign exchange transaction.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Ahern gave the tribunal two different accounts of a IR£50,000 transaction linked to his relationship with Manchester-based businessman Micheal Wall, whose house Mr Ahern rented and subsequently bought.

One version made no mention that stg£30,000 was involved, while Mr Ahern admitted in a private interview with the tribunal some months later that a sterling transaction was involved.

Last night a Fine Gael spokesman said: “The Taoiseach will have a difficult time when he finally is a witness at the tribunal in explaining away these contradictions. The tribunal will expose again and again the contradiction between the different explanations offered by the Taoiseach.”