Ahern associate linked with money laundering probe

A trusted associate of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is involved with a company at the centre of a major IRA money laundering probe, it emerged today.

Top banker Phil Flynn, 61, is a director in Chesterton Finance, the firm being examined in a massive cross-border police operation.

He is a former Trade Unions chief and Sinn Féin vice-president who invested in fledgling newspaper Daily Ireland.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the sharp-dressed troubleshooter brought in by the Taoiseach to handle some of the Government’s most sensitive issues.

Seven people have been arrested since the probe began. Two of them are:

:: Tom Hanlon – former Sinn Féin councillor in Passage West, east Cork.

The 37-year-old stood for election to the Dáil in 2002.

A SF election agent in last year’s European poll, he has been publicly seen alongside party president Gerry Adams.

Don Bullman – a chef in his 30s who clocks up 70 hours a week between working in nursing homes and catering in pubs and clubs.

The father-of-three, from Fernwood Crescent, Wilton, Co Cork, was arrested along with two Derry men near Dublin’s Heuston Station.