FG: Ahern switched tack to gain votes

BERTIE AHERN supported the controversial Phoenix Park casino project when he was finance minister only to change his mind “to gain votes” from residents who objected to the plans, Fine Gael claimed yesterday.

Earlier this week, it emerged Mr Ahern had helped to obtain a passport for American businessman Norman Turner, one of the key figures in the consortium behind the plans.

In April or May 1994, at the same time as the consortium was seeking political support for its plans, Mr Turner made a $10,000 (e6,725) donation to Fianna Fáil. In August that year, Mr Ahern’s office helped Mr Turner obtain his passport.

In the Dáil yesterday, Fine Gael TD Phil Hogan read from a Department of Finance memo on the casino project, obtained by the party under the Freedom of information Act.

According to the memo, Mr Turner had been informed that the project would involve amending gaming and lotteries legislation, something that successive justice ministers had been loathe to do.

But the memo stated: “Mr Turner said that he had had a series of meetings with Government ministers, including the minister for finance, from which he claimed to have received assurances that there would be no problem about the amending of legislation.”

The memo stated Mr Ahern “apparently shared” the misgivings of National Lottery chairman John Hynes about the number of gaming machines that would be involved, “but beyond this, he did not commit himself other than to acknowledge he had met with Mr Turner”.

Mr Hogan said, aside from the proposed number of the gaming machines, “there is no indication Mr Ahern expressed any opposition to the concept of the casino project”.

“Mr Ahern was privately promoting the project in 1994 but in 1997, when the issue became hot with local residents, he decided to switch tack in order to gain votes in the 1997 general election.”

Mr Ahern was not present in the Dáil to respond to Mr Hogan’s claims.