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03/10/2006
Taoiseach attends meeting at Dail
A number of businessmen have come forward to support the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern after claims emerged that he had received around €11,800 for a speech he carried out in Manchester while serving as Finance Minister in 1994.
The Irish Prime Minister is currently attending a meeting at the Dail in Dublin to discuss the issue.
The matter of the payment arose on Tuesday after an Irish newspaper published details of financial records supplied by Mr Ahern to the Mahon Tribunal, which unveiled details of an unpaid loan of €50,000 which Mr Ahern claims to have received from 12 friends to fund his marital separation in the early 1990s.
Last week, opposition leaders called for Mr Ahern to step down from government, however, he responded by saying that the money was lodged in his personal bank account, however he believed that no tax or ethical rules had been broken.
A Manchester-based businessman who attended the event today said there were no political favours sought for the payment and added that the payment had been made as a gesture to help out the then Finance Minister who was said to have been having some problems.
At the weekend, the Taoiseach was forced to pay the money back to the 12 people who had loaned him it between 1993-94.
An anti-corruption demonstration led by the People Before Profit group was due to take place outside the gates of the Parliament before the meeting takes place.
(EF/KMcA)
The Irish Prime Minister is currently attending a meeting at the Dail in Dublin to discuss the issue.
The matter of the payment arose on Tuesday after an Irish newspaper published details of financial records supplied by Mr Ahern to the Mahon Tribunal, which unveiled details of an unpaid loan of €50,000 which Mr Ahern claims to have received from 12 friends to fund his marital separation in the early 1990s.
Last week, opposition leaders called for Mr Ahern to step down from government, however, he responded by saying that the money was lodged in his personal bank account, however he believed that no tax or ethical rules had been broken.
A Manchester-based businessman who attended the event today said there were no political favours sought for the payment and added that the payment had been made as a gesture to help out the then Finance Minister who was said to have been having some problems.
At the weekend, the Taoiseach was forced to pay the money back to the 12 people who had loaned him it between 1993-94.
An anti-corruption demonstration led by the People Before Profit group was due to take place outside the gates of the Parliament before the meeting takes place.
(EF/KMcA)
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