The Taoiseach must tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth

VERY few people would believe Bertie Ahern had taken a bribe. He has been accused in the past, justly, of turning a blind eye to the behaviour of others, especially his boss Charles Haughey.

But most people believe that where his own money is concerned, Bertie is an honest man. He doesn’t even seem to have any great interest in money, and, notably, lives a modest and unassuming lifestyle.

That’s why it’s all the more important that he clears up the questions raised by recent leaks. In all our interests, just as much as his own, it is vital no impression be allowed to linger that he is beholden to others.

In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter how the information about gifts or loans to the Taoiseach came into the public domain. What matters is that he should take the first opportunity to clear up the suspicion.

Irish politics has suffered too much in the recent past from the venality of Charles Haughey and the brazen willingness to ask for money from Ray Burke and Liam Lawlor, to mention only the most well-known offenders. If he is not to be fatally besmirched, we need to believe the Taoiseach owes no favours to anyone.

Being Taoiseach is at one and the same time the best job and the most onerous, in politics or public life. The Taoiseach of the day, whoever he or she may be, is given enormous resources to do the job well: a large staff that looks after his or her personal, political and public service needs; a very good salary, a car and driver for the rest of his or her life, and the respect and deference of his or her peers.

In return, the Taoiseach is expected to do one thing above all others. He is expected to know where the common good lies, and to pursue it. In the modern world, government is about making choices. Even in the best of times, there’s never enough to do everything, and it is the Taoiseach’s job to ensure the choices made are the ones that reflect the common good.

But he has to do more than that. The common good demands a high standard in the practice and pursuit of politics. It requires basic honesty in the interaction between politicians and the public, and there is no greater betrayal than the one that springs from false promises — promises that were never intended to be kept even when they were made.

The common good demands that politicians, especially those to whom much is given, are prepared to maintain a character that is broadly above suspicion. We shouldn’t forget that those who reach high office in politics are richly rewarded. The large salary and the extensive perks are paid, in part, because it’s a difficult and demanding job, and partly because we need them to go at it full-time, without thinking they are in thrall to outside interests.

When suspicion is allowed to linger, politics as a whole is damaged. We have a practice in Ireland now, of referring everything to a tribunal, and then waiting months or years for basic answers. We hide behind clichés like due process, natural justice and the sub judice rule to avoid accounting for ourselves and our actions. In time, the tribunals themselves become damaged by reports of enormous legal fees and reports which seem to raise more questions than they answer. All the time, the right of the public to know and to be able to repose trust is being corroded.

Tomorrow, the Dáil will meet for the first time since its summer break. At 3.45pm the Taoiseach will rise to take questions from opposition leaders. Although he will have no advance notice of those questions, he will already know they have no choice but to press him on the rumours and allegations that are floating around. If he were leader of the opposition, he’d be doing the same thing.

They must ask him how much he got. Was it gifts or loans? If loans, how much has been repaid? If gifts, are there tax implications? Who did the money come from? What was it used for? Did he report all this voluntarily or was it forced out of him by the tribunal? Were other politicians involved in collecting the money?

The truth is, opposition leaders will be reluctant to hang the Taoiseach on this issue. With few exceptions, they’ve never found it easy to dig into the personal affairs of their colleagues, political opponents though they may be. I’ve always thought this reflected well on the human instinct involved. But they, too, have a duty to seek an explanation for what seems, on the face of it, to be an unwise financial transaction at best. It is their job and their duty to hold the Taoiseach to account.

INSTEAD of having to have all this information dragged out of him, the Taoiseach should preempt the questioning by asking the Ceann Comhairle to allow a debate in Government time tomorrow. He should make a full statement, setting out all the facts and figures, and invite questions. He should be seen to be taking the initiative in clearing up the matter.

If he does take that route, there’s one rule he must not forget: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The truth always comes out in the end, as Charles Haughey, Ray Burke, Michael Lowry and others discovered when they purported to make a full statement to the Dáil and it was subsequently discovered they had misled the House. Bertie Ahern needs to take advice from Othello: “Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.”

There will be three constraints, and in the public interest and his own, he must fight to ignore them all. First, he is naturally cautious about these things, willing in too many cases to insist on “due process” before he makes a judgment about the behaviour of any of his own people. If he advances that argument, he will be seen as having something to hide.

Second, he is probably very angry, and sees all this as a malicious intrusion into his private life, and into matters that concern other people apart from himself. For all I know, malice may be the reason behind the leaks. But we’re past that point now, and the Taoiseach must be able to address the issues raised as matters of serious public concern.

Third, his legal advisers will be telling him to keep his dealings with the tribunal confidential. In fact, he probably has a letter from the tribunal telling him just that, and forbidding him from making public comment on any dealings he has with them. The Taoiseach must take the view that public interest demands disclosure.

In short, there’s a right way and a wrong way to handle situations like this, and the Taoiseach once again needs to choose. The right way could even invoke some public sympathy, but the wrong way could be a step towards political oblivion.