‘Bertie! When you gonna resign, ya tax-dodger?’

BERTIE Ahern had just reached the microphone stand for his impromptu press conference when a look of concern flickered across his eyes.

Out of the shadows stepped a reporter unkindly dubbed the “suicide bomber” for his tendency to lob the most explosive of questions at the Taoiseach without a thought for his own safety.

Mr Ahern’s head was slumped as he braced himself for the incoming boom, which could be summed up as: “Taoiseach! When you gonna resign, ya big tax-dodger, you?”