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FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has said he will be consulting the officers of his party this evening about Bertie Ahern’s continued membership of the party following the publication of the Mahon Tribunal’s final report this morning.
The Tribunal report says that payments of IR£165,000 had not been “truthfully accounted for” by the former Taoiseach, but did not make any findings of corruption against Ahern.
The report also claims that the Tribunal came under sustained and virulent attack from a number of senior ministers who questioned the integrity of the sitting judges and “inter alia the legality of its inquiries”.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Six One News this evening, Martin said that he accepts the Tribunal’s findings and that these would be discussed this evening by the Fianna Fáil officers at a meeting tonight.
Martin said that while he personally ‘regrets’ that Bertie Ahern was apparently not in a position to furnish details of the origins of payments to him which were outlined in the Tribunal, certain procedures would have to be followed in the party with regard to his membership and Martin could not confirm that Ahern could face expulsion.
“Action will have to follow,” he said, adding there are procedures to be followed and said it’s “only fair” that party officers have an opportunity to review the 3,000+ page report.
When asked what he thought of Mahon’s criticism of ministers, Martin said: “The difficulty for me in this is that the Tribunal doesn’t name any names.”
He added that he felt that those politicians who were identified in the report as having engaged in corruption “betrayed the trust that the Irish people put in them” and described their behaviour as “absolutely disgraceful and unacceptable”.
In his address to the recent Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis, Martin pledged “swift and comprehensive” action on the Mahon report. He said that party members had felt “let down by people carrying Fianna Fáil’s banner who failed to live up to the standards of integrity which our founder set”.
He said this evening that the party would issue a detailed response to the report shortly and that it would soon give an indication of its reaction to the Ahern elements.
A comment issued on behalf of Bertie Ahern earlier today said that he would issue a statement after reviewing the Tribunal’s findings.
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Whys is it not the DPP who analyses the Mahon tribunal findings and throws Bertie in prison. Why is it up to FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin and the FF party to decide the fate of a man who stole/defrauded/embezzled (choose your own verb) 165 thousand euro.
it has been reffered to DPP and gardai for investigation to see if charges can be brought.
Alas, dear boy, the Gardai Sheercarnage need actual ‘proof’ whatever the circumstantial evidence may suggest, to take action. Your man was a cute slippery sam of an “accountant” and fully aware of the effect of paperwork. Why do you think he had no bank account. Jaysus was his fat salary paid in cash on his Dail desk every week by the wages clerk! Never heard the like. You couldn’t dream it up in book – a Finance Monister who didn’t have a bank account.
In all honesty.
Is anyone surprised at this latest revelation about Bertie Ahern?
Any chance that Micky Martin will return the money he received as donations from Eoin o’Callaghan, the now disgraced developer. Will we find out which cabinet ministers were attacking and slowing the work of the tribunal.
Time for Martin to resign in disgrace as well. He is very damaged goods. The holy bishop routine is not as holy as made out.
God knows these people will probably still receive pensions…anyone that enters the dail should sign something to say they will forfit future pension payments if they are found to be corrupt while serving the public interest. Assets should also be utilised to back pay any payment already received. They should also be fined!!!! There just has to be some deterant to corrupt behaviour!
People of Ireland.
Learn from the revelations of the Mahon Tribunal.
Don’t depend on politicians to look after your interests.
Look after number one. Yourself…and your family.
Stand up for what you believe in and never succumb to
pressure motivated by monetary greed.
Bullshit …. Bertie Ahearne gave the same speach back in 1998 about not accepting corruption in the Party at any , when he took over as leader. Tonight on the RTE news, Mehole Martin was challenged about Willie O’Deas condemnation by the tribunal, and he refused to condemn Willie O’Dea ….. And dont forget, Willie O’Dea has already been expelled and then returned to the FFailure party because he was found to have lied under oath to a court.
If Martin was serious, … in any way serious … He would expekl every member of FFailure condemned in the report from Mahon today … But we all know that Mehole is only interested in leading FFailure … He doesnt believe his own lies to us ….
Gilmore and Kenny need to examine their own roles ….
Gilmores wife gort 500k for a piece of land worth 38k … If he wants open and transparancy, let him explain why she got this money … how did she manage to secure that deal??? Kenny has his own FFg councillors who were pocketing how much again??? Thats on top of Kenny paying himself 50k per year on top ofg his TD salary, Dail expenses, and on top odf his ministerial pension …
These 3 parties have so many answers to give to us … They are making a fortubne at our expense, and laughing to themselves in the Dail bar about it …..
I am fcuking ANGRY…
Jail, disbarred from serving in any form in public life again and probably a stint on Robben Island-the whole lot of them. Then peoples faith in politics may be restored and the next generation of politicians won’t be as tempted to put their paw in the cookie jar
Should be stripped of his pension (150k a year I heard) and locked up.
if they do that then he’ll spill the beans on all the rest of them.
If Bertie faces justice he’ll take down pretty much every leading figure in FF over last 25 years. It would be the criminal trail of the century.
A perfect story to be serialised in whatever paper he is “writing” for these days
I have a recurring dream. In it the entire Fianna Fáil parliamentary party recreate the “Judean People’s Front Crack Suicide Squad” scene from “The Life of Brian”,…
Pity it’s just a dream.
Splitter!
Consider what? FCUK HIM OUT take his pension let him suffer…
The standards of integrity which “their “founder set”.
Hmmm, quite. Such as;
-Sending Collins to London on a fools errand, and then leading the country into civil war over the result.
-Collecting five and a half million dollars from US citizens for the Irish effort, and promptly “disappearing” a fair chunk of it. A man of no great financial means initially, he was to shortly thereafter set up the Irish Press newspaper.
-Tied the country inextricably to Roman Catholicism with his input into the redrafted constitution, thus stagnating progress, and putting the Church in a position of disproportionate power within the state, for generations.
-Enacting electoral acts (such as in 1947, in an attempt to gerrymander the election, manipulate constituencies and seats and return FF to power once more after sixteen years at the helm.
He was, without doubt, a brilliant politician, but being a good politician is not the same as being a good influence on public life. Charlie Haughey was a skilled politician too…
Not content with rewriting the recent past, it seems FF now wish to whitewash their beginnings too (as evidenced by stirring footage of the Shannon Hydroelectric scheme on youtube, under the FF banner-despite DeValera’s trenchant opposition to the thing-which at one time generated the entire island’s electricity, and without a carbon footprint!)
this sort of stuff should be thought in schools in history class.not the romantic notion that FF claim thry are
Get rid of Fianna Fail altogether sure. No loss.
But the end result, the bottom line, is that nothing can be proved, nothing is conclusive. The man who made himself a shed load of dodgy cash and at the same time bankrupted the country to keep him and his FF cronies at the helm will get away scot free as the DPP won’t have a thing on him.
Yep, life is definitely not fair…
Sad but true
Consider what? FCUK HIM OUT take his pension let him suffer…He is a liar!
lf there is any justice in this country he must get jail and his bloody huge pension taken of him and then CAB should take all of his corrupt payments from him.
Lets replay the clips of Martin defending Ahern when it was obvious he was lying about his sources of income. Resign Michael and leave Fianna Fail to the members who weren’t apologists for low standards in politics.
They threaten the people of Ireland if they don’t pay 100euro household charge but do nothing about berties 165,000 punt!! Fuck them….
It is time that the Irish people do something about this. We cannot let it sit and be forgotten. WE HAVE TO PROTEST AND SHOW OUR ANGER!
I’M SO ANGRY I’M GONNA TYPE IN CAPS TOO!
I agree with TPM above. Is it not the policy of CAB to seize assets and property if the person under suspicion cannot account for or prove that they were honestly gotten or earned
God I hope as well as jail I hope to God they take what is important to him money and property and who he gave it to!! Here’s hoping that smarmy f@ck gets what he deserves!
Considering his membership are you kidding me ???? Wtf the b*****d should be Slung into the joy for a couple of years the f**king lying snake !!!
What is there to consider
Just heard FF’s Senator Thomas Byrne comments suggesting Bertie should go, pretty sickening for us East Meath constituents given that Byrne was one of those politicians constantly banging on about the successes of Bertie during last two election campaigns. Does He think we don’t see through this miserable attempt to distance himself from the FF heritage of corruption and dishonesty. We booted him out last election only to be lumbered with him as a Senator, another failed FF politician worms his way back into power, bring on the winding up of the Senate ASAP and finally get rid of these wasters
From the Irish Independent of 30/1/2008:
“THE opposition parties’ motion of confidence in the tribunal is designed to embarrass Fianna Fail ministers who attacked its treatment of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
These include:
-December 20, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern: “I wasn’t at the tribunal but from what I’ve heard from the media, I find it quite astonishing the line of questioning.”
-December 21, Minister of State for Europe, Dick Roche said of the questioning of Mr Ahern: “It was petty, it was personal, it was prurient, and it was voyeuristic.”
-December 21, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, complained about “invasive questioning”: “I’m waiting for the day the tribunal is going to go back to Bertie Ahern and question him about his First Communion money, whether he got it in notes or coins, did he put it in a piggy bank or a real bank, or did he get a half crown from Owen O’Callaghan.”
-January 15, Progressive Democrat TD Noel Grealish: “I think there is a serious issue that the way the Taoiseach, the leader of our country, is treated at times in the Mahon Tribunal, and I think that a lot of the Irish people out there are tired of this campaign against the Taoiseach.”
He later called for the tribunal to be wound up.”
If Martin has any balls at all he will oversee the expulsion of this horribly self serving, corrupt bastard from FF. Anything less and he should pack his own briefcase. Close the book on this villain once and for all. I doubt there will be much chance of a criminal case but I have to say God only knows what else that man escaped. Mahon was only the tip of the iceberg.
Ahern and Martin should hold hands and F*** Off into the sunset along the rest of that poison outfit called Fainna Fail.They destroyed this country through their greed,i’m not forgetting the FG crowd either.Make room in the prisons for these scum.
I’m sure he’s brickin
Consider? Soft talk wa….s
well if they die, social welfare and tax office will come after them unless they exempt from that like they are from house hold charge, recently lost a family member and due to a sale of a few acres of land, after the collapse of the economy, depts of our government demanded a repayment as the person didn’t live long enough to declare it, they said they had defrauded the state…………. we only the little people but caught by them at every turn, so why can’t the state take pension etc off them. but again they probably exempt……..grrrrrr
The people of Ireland didn’t need the Mahon Tribunal, or it’s appalling costs to the taxpayer, to tell us of Bertie Ahern’s shady dealings; I think we all knew it anyway – one only had to watch him and listen to him! Prejudicial? Whatever! He knew very well what was coming where our esteemed bankers are concerned – so he bolted; didn’t you ever wonder why he stepped down when he did? As for these esteemed bankers, we learn today that we are expected to trump up more to help meet the fall-out of their errors, not to mention their bonuses! Come on, you knew they got bonuses for doing what they did! They seem to have got off ‘scot-free’; I wonder will old Bertie? Mr Martin was always a good and reliable man as a LOCAL politician here in Cork, now he is in the same position as his very questionable predecessors – I’m sure he finds that walking the gilded halls of government knocks some gilt off his former ideals! It’s a hard road sir, but I’m sure you know that by now, to your cost! As for our current government, you know, at that I’m bereft of words!
Very strange, after years ago, that all of a sudden, a subject brought up about 15 year tribunal case, which these people had walked free from then,, of crimes that they did commit, why now just before they planned on another referendum? this government has decided to bring up a case that FF & FG & LB TDS who were corrupt then, justice was not done then, what’s so different about this case ? Not long ago, I had read an article in newspaper, that this government were going to try and get us to vote a defeated referendum from last October, the no vote kangaroo courts one,
ENDA kenny appointed Eamon Gilmore to call the same referendum, well I am totally not convinced, a trick of all trades with this FG , and LB , Government, a bit sleazy if you ask me and, I know if justice was not done 15 years ago, what’s so special about this one? A second time round,
It’s just like the bankers and developers and the previous government, who brought this country down, leaving us the people to pick up the pieces, again no justice were done, Rita Cahill
Why is it all of a sudden after 15 long years ago, FG and LB have brought up this agenda of Mahon tribunal, the corrupt FF & LB & FG all who were named above and involved” but why now? After all nothing came out then at that time” and the judge could not come to a guilty verdict then, because their were no proof at that time, the Garda could not proof anything then, it is a bit strange, before a referendum of judicial law, the one that was defeated last year, is due to be announced again soon, Eamon Gilmore was appointed to see that this referendum of the no vote last oct is demanded by FG leaders that it would be past though, 15 years ago, thins tribunal which cost the state and taxpayers 300million unfortunate” but no justice was done then, so what is so different and a waste of money again to open a can of worms again” nothing will come of it, the justice in Ireland is crap, but if it were an ordinary citizen, then this would be an open and shut case and they would be punished and death with quickly, but,, politicians and TDS, that’s a different cat & fish, they walk or a Garda, or judge, so what’s the point, they have got away with serious crimes already, it’s so strange, indeed, Rita Cahill.
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