‘B/T stood for Bertie and Tim’

A FORMER building society official has told the Mahon Tribunal that its Drumcondra staff always believed a controversial “B/T” account under investigation by the inquiry was linked to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Elizabeth Smyth, who worked at the Irish Permanent branch in Drumcondra during the 1990s, said it was common knowledge among the staff that the B/T account stood for “Bertie and Tim”.

Tim Collins, Bertie Ahern’s associate who opened the account in 1989, told the tribunal the letters stood for “building trust”, although he admitted that another account opened by himself and Fianna Fáil fundraiser, Des Richardson named the “D/T” account referred to their initials.

However, Ms Smyth expressed confidence yesterday that Irish Permanent officials always believed the B/T account referred to “Bertie and Tim”: “The reason why I remembered it... was that it was Bertie Ahern who was minister at the time. So I was quite young at the time. So it was quite impressive to be working on a minister’s account.”

Another Irish Permanent official, Lisa Jordan, said she recalled Mr Collins once remarking that B/T was a reference to the “Bertie/Tim account”.

However, Ms Jordan said she was certain Mr Collins had made the remark “in a jocular manner”.

Meanwhile, an Ulster Bank official told the inquiry that Des Richardson had informed him that money from a Manchester bank account would be used to repay debts he owed the Ulster Bank for a failed lottery project.

Peter McKenna, manager of the Ulster Bank in Mallow, Co Cork, also claimed that Mr Richardson had told him that an account which he had opened at the branch in the name of “Trentvalley” had nothing to do with Fianna Fáil.

Mr Richardson, who is due to give evidence at Dublin Castle this morning, denies both claims.

A memo also noted that Mr Richardson had informed Mr McKenna that he had instructed a bank in Manchester to transfer an agreed settlement of £12,500 to Ulster Bank.

Mr McKenna said he could only have known about a bank in Manchester based on what he had been told by Mr Richardson.

However, he acknowledged that documentation showed £12,500 was actually paid from an account of Willdover, a company operated by Mr Richardson. Bank records showed money for this payment came from a Fianna Fáil account named “Reynolds/Ahern”.