Emotional Ahern's tribunal grilling ends

An emotional Bertie Ahern today officially ended his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal with a parting accusation that its lawyers tried to ’trap and trick’ him.

The former Taoiseach, who has spent a dozen drama-packed days in the witness box since September 2007, also claimed political foes had waged an eight-year campaign to wreck his good name and reputation.

As Judge Alan Mahon told the TD he was free to leave, a relieved Mr Ahern used the opportunity to launch one final attack on the Tribunal and its barrister Des O’Neill.

“I spent a lot of time dealing with you all, and at times I felt a lot of the issues from my good friend Mr O’Neill were always picked out to try to trap me and trick me,” he said.

“I never in my life took a bribe or a backhander or anything from anybody.”

Mr Ahern acknowledged that the three-judge inquiry had a ’hard job’ to do in compiling their report. The inquiry, which has already sat almost 900 days, is due to wind up in coming weeks.

Mr Ahern said: “I’ve had to deal with this for eight-and-a-half years, a concerted bid by a few people who did everything they could to damage me, but I did my best before this tribunal to tell the full truth.”

Earlier, proceedings were interrupted when a heckler in a faded grey suit approached the judges’ bench and began making comments about Mr Ahern.

A garda removed the man from the hearing room.

Mr Ahern today spent his 12th day in the witness box denying there was any link between meetings with developers in 1994 and subsequent lodgements into his bank accounts.

Mr O’Neill’s forensic questioning centred on allegations that Co Cork builder Owen O’Callaghan gave a IR£30,000 bribe to Mr Ahern while Finance Minister in the 1990s.

Mr Ahern also said he couldn’t remember meeting the son of Liam Lawlor at a house party in the US before St Patrick’s Day in 1994.

Niall Lawlor was working for investment bankers Chilton and O’Connor in California – a firm aiming to help fund a new stadium in west Dublin.

“If I worked the room I would have certainly met everybody that was there,” Mr Ahern said.

“Mr Lawlor was on the invitation list and if he attended on the night I would say that I would have shook hands with everybody in the room.”

He added: “I spent over 20 years travelling on behalf of the state to the ends of the country and the ends of the world.

“You’re asking me about a reception in a house in 1994 and what I would have said to one of the guests?”

Judge Gerard Keys insisted to Mr Ahern that he must have sought out Mr Lawlor at the party because he was the son of a senior TD in his own political party.

Mr Ahern answered: “I’m sure I had some pleasantries.”

He later quipped that he also attended a Mass for 8,000 people “and I’m sure I shook hands with 6,000 of them and asked all kinds of things.”

But Mr Keys replied: “This is a fact-finding exercise. We have to sit down at a later stage and establish what happened.”

Mr Ahern’s barrister Conor Maguire then objected that Mr Key’s question was based on speculation.

In other evidence, the former Taoiseach claimed Mr O’Neill was trying to concoct a conspiracy that former Government members were making decisions influenced on political donations.

Mr Ahern said: “I have never seen a Government decision predicated on the fact that somebody was squaring money into their pockets.”

Reiterating previous denials of receiving corrupt payments, Mr Ahern told the tribunal: “You can take it, in the 40 years in politics, I’ve been busting my gut for the public. I never got a bribe. I never got money from Frank Dunlop, Owen O’Callaghan or any of the others associated with this. I never got a penny from any of these characters.”

He added: “Never in my 40 years in public life have I taken a bribe from any individual. I never even took, to my recollection, a cup of coffee.”