Ahern says Gilmartin’s allegations are ‘crazy’
Hitting out at the key tribunal witness, the Taoiseach said he had been accused of having offshore accounts, receiving payments and a lot worse. “I get allegations 10 a penny. As you know yourself it goes with the turf. But these were allegations made to the senior counsel for the tribunal that was acting under law,” he said at Dublin Castle.
Many of Mr Gilmartin’s claims were circulated after a Supreme Court ruling in March 2005, which paved the way for third parties to access some records of private briefings between tribunal lawyers and witnesses.
Among the allegations were suggestions that Mr Ahern had accounts in England, Liechtenstein, Dutch Antilles and Jersey.
It was also alleged previously Mr Ahern had £15 million in a Bank of Ireland in Jersey. These allegations were “manifestly false”, Mr Ahern’s lawyers have said. The tribunal has also dropped its inquiries into these claims.
Mr Ahern said the “wild” claims of Mr Gilmartin had gone further and had included claims that ministerial friends had allegedly been sent off “to hassle another minister”.
Mr Ahern added: “This man, who has been down my neck for seven-and-a -half years, was accusing me of blackmail and these were very serious allegations.
“It was about the fact that this man was saying all kinds of mad things, crazy things, including the fact that I set up two colleagues to go and blackmail another colleague and if that had been true I would have been finished. It was far worse than money.”
Mr Ahern said these were worse than claims by Mr Gilmartin that he was paid IR£50,000 and IR£30,000 by Owen O’Callaghan in connection with Quarryvale. Mr Gilmartin says Mr Ahern received the two amounts between 1989 and 1992, when he was minister for finance.
Mr Gilmartin alleged the IR£30,000 was paid for allegedly blocking a special tax designation for development in Blanchardstown, which would have benefited Quarryvale, owned by Mr O’Callaghan.
Mr O’Callaghan denies saying he gave Mr Ahern cash or that he paid him. Mr Ahern denied receiving funds: “I never got a glass of water from Mr O’Callaghan not to mind money.”
