£66-a-week secretary brings down house of cards

IN THE end, Bertie Ahern was laid low by the tale of two secretaries.

The treatment of humble Gráinne Carruth and high-flying Celia Ahern shocked the country — and more importantly the Fianna Fáil grassroots — but for two very different reasons.

As Ms Carruth wept openly in the Mahon corruption probe’s witness box as she begged the judge to let her return home to her children, she triggered an enormous wave of sympathy for the predicament many felt Mr Ahern had placed her in.