Ahern accused of ‘rent boy’ blackmail plot

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was allegedly behind an attempted “blackmail” plot in the 1990s relating to a former junior minister and rent boys in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

Businessman Tom Gilmartin, 73, claimed Mr Ahern sent a delegation of two ministers to the junior minister in connection with compromising photographs and sex offences involving rent boys in Phoenix Park.

Shortly before the incident, the junior minister had been reported in the media as having misgivings about the granting of tax designations, according to Mr Gilmartin.

The two ministers, named as X and Y, produced photographs of the junior minister, named Z, in Phoenix Park with rent boys.

“They also mentioned a case where Z was supposed to have made an indecent approach to a young teenager and where it is said there was a huge row with the boy’s parents,” said Mr Gilmartin. “They threatened to sue but did nothing because of fear of publicity.”

In a private interview with tribunal lawyers Mr Gilmartin described how an anonymous source revealed the two ministers told the junior minister that “if he did not keep his effing mouth shut they would release this material to the media”.

He passed on the information that was given to him. A substantial amount of what the caller gave Mr Gilmartin seemed to be reasonably accurate and he passed that on as well.

Mr Ahern’s lawyer Colm O’hOisin SC accused Mr Gilmartin of having an endless list of outrageous slurs. Describing the blackmail suggestion as outrageous, ludicrous and unbelievable, counsel said it was not backed by a scintilla of evidence.

He accused Mr Gilmartin of taking a cowardly approach in relaying that sort of information from a conveniently anonymous source about four different people, including the Taoiseach, without any support.

But Mr Gilmartin replied that he was never cowardly and insisted he didn’t make the allegation but only “passed on information”.

Earlier Mr Gilmartin denied he told journalists in 1999 he would “topple” Bertie Ahern’s government with his evidence on planning corruption.

But Mr Gilmartin defended his decision to talk to journalists despite being strongly advised several times by tribunal lawyers not to do so. “I disregarded it [the advice] if a journalist was coming to me with information already in the public domain.”

He told tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon this information had “nothing to do” with his evidence. He denied releasing tribunal documents to journalists.

If there was “lying spin” against his character, Mr Gilmartin said he felt he had every right to defend his character. Earlier, the Sligo-born former developer declared: “I believe if somebody attacks me or my character I have a right to respond and I do not apologise for it.”

Mr O’hOisin said some of Mr Gilmartin’s statements were “wholly fantastical and unbelievable”. One allegation said Mr Ahern had in excess of IR£15 million in a Bank of Ireland bank account in Jersey.

Mr Gilmartin replied: “It would be fair to say some of my experiences in Dublin were fantastical and unbelievable.”