Former Irish PM lied about money
Verdict comes 4 years after economy collapsed
DUBLIN – Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern lied about the source of 165,000 Irish pounds ($274,000) he received, an inquiry concluded on Thursday in a longawaited report into the dealings of one of the architects of Ireland’s illfated economic boom.
The verdict comes four years after the economy collapsed under the strain of a decade-long housing and banking boom, cultivated by Ahern and his party, Fianna Fail, and a year after the party was ejected from power by angry voters.
Ahern was one of Europe’s longest serving prime ministers and widely praised for his work in resolving a three-decade conflict in Northern Ireland. He said in a statement he was reviewing the findings and would comment in due course.
The government said it would refer the report to the police and the director of public prosecutions.
Experts said evidence from the inquiry could be used in court, but a prosecution over Ahern’s testimony would be difficult to secure.
Set up in 1997, the inquiry probed the relationships between politicians and property developers after builders made vast profits on land rezoned as commercial.
In its report, it said corruption was “endemic and systemic” at every level of government in Ireland in the late 1990s. Ahern was PM from 1997 to 2008.
It investigated allegations that Ahern accepted money from a developer in return for favours.
The report said Ahern failed to account for over 165,000 Irish pounds lodged in bank accounts.