Ahern move ‘act of a desperate politician’

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s court challenge to the Mahon Tribunal is “the act of a desperate politician”, Fine Gael said last night.

Mr Ahern told the Dáil yesterday he had to stand by article 15.13 of the constitution, which protects TDs’ privilege in the House.

The article states that TDs and senators “shall not, in respect of any utterance in either House, be amenable to any court or any authority other than the House itself”.

Mr Ahern says he feels obliged to defend the Constitution, hence his attempt to block the tribunal from questioning him about anything he said in the Dáil.

But Fine Gael senator Eugene Regan claimed Mr Ahern was an “unlikely constitutional warrior”.

“The idea of the Taoiseach as some form of modern-day constitutional warrior is laughable. A naked attempt by the Taoiseach to frustrate and delay the work of the tribunal by taking a High Court challenge is not the work of a protector of constitutional rights. It is the act of a desperate politician.”

He claimed Mr Ahern was “a politician facing ultimate exposure under questioning by the tribunal, hiding behind his lawyers and the reputations of honest politicians who in the past have used Dáil privilege to expose corruption and wrongdoing. Bertie Ahern is only interested in safeguarding his position, not safeguarding the constitution”.