Ahern paid back €90k to ‘dig-out’ donors
A number of those who received Mr Ahern’s personal cheques — 13 years after they gave their original payments — decided among themselves to hand them over to charity. In the event, eight cheques were endorsed by the recipients and sent on to the Fianna Fáil base in Drumcondra.
Children’s charity CARI — of which Miriam Ahern, separated wife of the Taoiseach, is patron and a long-time fundraiser — received the proceeds of these eight cheques, totalling €67,210.
Acknowledging the generosity and listing the eight benefactors, CARI issued a global receipt for the windfall donation on October 10 and addressed it to the Taoiseach at his St Luke’s constituency office.
Giving evidence yesterday, former Fianna Fáil chief fundraiser Des Richardson told how he had twice refused Mr Ahern’s offer to repay the money he had donated.
“He mentioned that he was repaying all the loans. I had refused it twice and I think that was my mistake in not accepting the money back in 1994. If I had then it might not have caused some flak for him,” he added.
Appointed party fundraiser by Mr Ahern in April 1993, Mr Richardson had assisted in raising £22,500 in late 1993 from close friends to help meet legal costs related to Mr Ahern’s marital separation.
He personally contributed a £2,500 cheque — made out to cash — for Mr Ahern’s legal costs.
However, Mr Ahern had already met his legal costs through an AIB loan before he received the £22,500.
In addition to the whip-round, further monies were raised through other friends to enable Mr Ahern to buy a property for himself. At the time, the former finance minister was living above the St Luke’s offices. The total of both “dig-outs” amounted to about £40,000.
Mr Richardson said when he got Mr Ahern’s €5,914 last year he got a phone call from businessman Charlie Chawke, who said fellow donor Dermot Carew had been suggesting they give these cheques to charity.
He agreed. In turn he contacted two other friends who had donated to Mr Ahern, advising them of what was intended. But he denied there was any orchestrated move on their part.
When he sent a series of cheques to his 1993/94 donors on September 29, 2006, Mr Ahern included in his payment the equivalent of the original loan, with interest.
Some donors have kept Mr Ahern’s cheques as souvenirs — choosing not to cash them. The widow of prominent Dublin auctioneer Fintan Gunne said she was keeping his cheque as a memento. She sent a receipt to Mr Ahern for his cheque and gave €5,914 (the same value as the Taoiseach’s cheque) to the Mater Hospital for cancer research.
