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‘Stop Maligning Me, You Malignant Lawyers’, says Bertie
Read more about: Bertiegate, Corruption, Scandal, Tribunals
Both Mark Hennessy, in his Correspondent blog and RTE news tell us that lawyers, acting for Bertie at the Mahon Tribunal, have accused the Tribunal of allowing itself to become part of a malicious campaign against the Taoiseach. Shock and/or Horror!
Thus the Tribunal, by pointing out at discrepancies about how bank records don’t tally with Bertie’s description of events, is not doing its job. Rather it’s just after Bertie. Perhaps the Tribunal is just trying, one final time, to see if anything will actually stick to the Teflon Taoiseach™.
According to Mark Hennessy:
“A fortnight ago Mr Ahern said Wall’s money was lodged into his account. Now the tribunal says that it can find records to show that only £1,900 sterling was lodged. This is a major discrepancy, which, if proved, raises serious questions about everything else that Mr Ahern has said. However, it must be pointed out that Des O’Neill SC, for the tribunal, said that no one should draw any conclusions from the figures and that there might be other explanations for them.”
But while Bertie’s appearance before the tribunal in a couple of weeks will make interesting copy, it’ll be months before the Tribunal can find out if a real discrepancy exists.
At that stage we’ll have a new Government, but - depending on who’s in it - for how long?
where does this leave negotiations for government? Will Gregory really hold his nose on this? For how long?
It seems McDowell has been vindicated somewhat in his concern, if not his decisiveness and the opposition perhaps should wonder if they could have made Bertie answer questions earlier (a little bit of clear hindsight, but a debating point nonetheless). Ironic he is now gone.
This could make a deal before june 14 very tricky, and perhaps with no Taoiseach elected we will then see some shuffling at the top of the parties. It depends on how great these allegations are. Gilmartin is no longer the issue. The Tribunal has a serious line of inquiry which could go beyond the (easily refuted) Gilmartin allegaitons.
Cuffe is right to sit and watch but soon, someone will have to jump.
I suspect that Maguire’s attack on Mahon was an attempt to protect the negotiations although the suggestion, that Mahon released documents during the election as part of a conspiracy to change how people voted, is being brought up now because it was their first opportunity to do so.
We have to see when Bertie gives evidence if he’ll spin the same yarn as he did during the election. If not, well why not, and if so how will they resolve the descrepancy. I think the latter might happen. That way, if it does appear as a descrepancy, it’ll be October and negotiations will be well out of the way and no one will be willing to bring down the new government over a small lie.
Or at least that’s what they’re going to hope for. It’s all about stability, remember. Once a new government is formed what politician is going to stand on their principles if it means another election? Except the Greens of course, they’d have no problem bringing down the government and having another election, if it meant they’d lose more seats. They’re funny that way.
There isn’t a landlord in the country that would hand over £30k in cash to his potential future tenant, yet Bertie asks that we believe this to be normal. Would anyone hand over £30k in cash to someone else in a commercial transaction without asking for a receipt?
According to the tribunal, there is no evidence of £30k in sterling being translated to punts on the day Bertie said it was. According to the tribunal, Mr. Wall lost £28k on the house deal if this £30k cash transaction is included, which means that Mr. Wall would have lost nothing on the deal if the £30k cash transaction did not come from him.
To summarise:
The evidence suggests the lodgement made was not a sterling conversion but a dollar conversion. If that is true the lodgement was for money that did not come from Mr Wall and had nothing to do with the house in Drumcondra. This would make Mr. Wall’s behaviour as far as the house is concerned totally rational; i.e. he did not hand over £30k to his future tenant in a house he did not yet own, and he did not lose £28k on the house when he sold it to Bertie Ahern. Mr Ahern’s explanation, which is not supported by any paperwork, if accepted, would mean that all concerned acted in a totally irrational way. Bertie’s explanation is not credible.
Maybe that why Bertie gets away with it all, the Irish like their mythology! They would rather script verbose mythological chronologies, than call a Bribe, a Bribe!