Bertie Ahern at Mahon Day 2, There Will be Day 3

Today should see the tribunal turn to the issue of the five deposits to Bertie’s account, leaks of which began the Bertiegate storm before the election. Following yesterdays drawn out efforts to suggest that Bertie has been slow to cooperate, on suspects they won’t be going easy on him today. So far nothing even resembling a smoking gun, although the ‘convincing explanation’ demanded by Enda Kenny is arguably equally lacking. More obfuscation while the numbers on the $45,000 become even more befuddled.

Update 17:11: Bertie will have to go back for a third day such is the volume to cover, this afternoon he discussed the “mathematical power games” involved in giving evidence. There is no fixed date for his return and his legal team are well miffed at the fact that the tribunal did not manage to get through all his evidence in the two days allotted to the Taoiseach.

Update 13:12: It emerged this morning that Bertie didn’t immediately hand over details of the transactions that the tribunal are inquiring into when asked by the tribunal. Ahern argues that this was because he had not gotten all his documents together to submit. In 2004 Ahern identified lodgements via documents from AIB that highlighted seven or so lodgements which were of interest, yet didn’t disclose these until later. The tribunal feel that he should have furnished this information far earlier.

Exchange rates etc will be coming up later, while the dinner in Manchester has been raised and the tribunal have gone so far as to ask him for the denominations of the £16,000 (they were 50s).