Ahern's lawyer hits out at 'outlandish' corruption claims

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s lawyer today launched a withering attack on developer Tom Gilmartin by branding allegations of corruption outlandish, incredible and unfounded.

In a 30-minute address to the Mahon Tribunal as the Quarryvale II module began, Conor Maguire SC also hit out at the inquiry claiming its investigations into the Taoiseach’s personal and family affairs were intrusive.

He said Mr Gilmartin had become a puppet for others in a malicious campaign to damage Mr Ahern.

Mr Maguire went on to blame the tribunal for failing to heed warnings that confidential information supplied to investigators and circulated among the legal teams would end up being leaked in the run-up to the election

And he accused the tribunal of creating the risk of interference in the democratic process.

Controversies surrounding Mr Ahern’s finances dominated the first fortnight of Fianna Fail’s general election campaign earlier this month.

Mr Maguire said it suggested bias and that the outcome of the inquiry had already been decided.

Quarryvale II concerns the development of the Liffey Valley shopping centre in west Dublin in the early 1990s and includes allegations by Mr Gilmartin that Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan gave Mr Ahern two corrupt payments – £50,000 and £30,000 – in relation to it.

Both Mr Ahern and Mr O’Callaghan strenuously deny any corruption.

But the focus of inquiries centres on all of Mr Ahern’s finances at that time and a supplementary opening statement heard today revealed an apparent discrepancy in lodgements to accounts connected to the Taoiseach.

It said money paid into an account in the name of Mr Ahern’s former partner Celia Larkin could not have been a £30,000stg payment the Taoiseach said he received from Manchester businessman Micheal Wall.

Des O’Neill SC for the tribunal detailed a £28,772 lodgement to he Ms Larkin’s Allied Irish Bank O’Connell Street account on December 5 1994.

But that would not have been worth £30,000stg based on the exchange rate at the time and records from the foreign desk showed the day’s transactions did not amount to that.

Mr O’Neill said the transactions would have been worth a lodgement of US$45,000.

Mr Ahern has denied handling large sums of dollars at the time.

The tribunal heard there were little or no records detailing a series of payments, lodgements, withdrawals and foreign exchanges connected to Mr Ahern, his former partner Ms Larkin and Mr Wall.

While there are receipts of transactions the paper trail does not identify the source of all the monies.

Mr Ahern has addressed the queries about his finances in private meetings with the tribunal, in a confidential statement and following leaks in a candid public account of his bank dealings.

He is one of 80 witnesses due to be called to give evidence.

In the revised opening statement Mr O’Neill identified the inconsistency in Mr Ahern’s explanation.

He warned however no conclusion should be drawn from any information contained in the statement.

Despite that, Mr Maguire said there was a perception the tribunal had an outcome in mind.

He said Mr Ahern was confident the allegations will be proven false and show that he faced completely needless and unfair publicity.

He also accused the tribunal of giving Mr Gilmartin preferential treatment.

Judge Alan Mahon warned Mr Maguire had made a number of comments which suggested bias and improper conduct by the tribunal. He said he would discuss the matter with the tribunal’s legal team before making any decision.