Taoiseach braces himself for recall

BERTIE AHERN was today bracing himself for a rough ride as he was due to return to the Mahon Tribunal corruption probe’s witness box.

The Taoiseach has been called back to the investigation to answer questions regarding a lodgment of £24,838.49 into his bank account 1994.

Mr Ahern claimed the money was a mixture of a £16,500 “dig-out” from friends and about £8,000 he was given as a “whip-round” after speaking at a Manchester dinner for businessmen. However, the investigation’s lawyers have openly questioned Mr Ahern’s version of events during hearings.

The Taoiseach’s two-day appearance at Dublin Castle is likely to prove even more bruising than his four-day stint in the witness box last September.

Lawyers have stated the £24,838.49 lodgment does not equate with Mr Ahern’s explanation for it, but it does correspond to an exchange rate for £25,000 sterling.

One of the friends Mr Ahern says lent him the “dig-out”, Paddy “the plasterer” Reilly was told by tribunal SC Henry Murphy last week: “You are making it up.”

Mr Reilly strongly denied that he had lied under oath about the “dig-out”.

Tribunal lawyers have also questioned the reason why those supposed to have been involved in the “dig-outs” gave the money to charity when the loans were finally repaid to them by Mr Ahern after the matter became public in 2006.

Lawyers asked a number of those involved if that happened because the money had never been lent in the first place. The claim was denied.