Ahern’s former partner tells tribunal of 'bundles of cash'
The former partner of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Mahon Tribunal today that she saw bundles of sterling cash on a desk in his constituency office while he was finance minister in 1994.
Mr Ahern took some of the notes in his arms and went to a safe in a back office, the tribunal heard.
Ms Larkin has already admitted lodging in a bank account almost £30,000 given to Mr Ahern by the future owner of the Dublin home he was about to rent. The money was due to be spent on refurbishment work on the property.
In a packed tribunal courtroom at Dublin Castle, Ms Larkin today recalled how Manchester businessman Michael Wall gave Mr Ahern the cash in his Drumcondra constituency office.
“Part of the money was on the table. Bertie was bringing some into the back office. I presume into the safe,” she said.
“I didn’t take note of the denominations. I saw notes and they were sterling notes. There were a few bundles, one or two on top of each other.
She added: “I was surprised to see cash on the table. It wasn’t something that I would see every day.”
Mr Ahern’s personal finances dominated his the General Election campaign in May and he was forced to issue a statement with supporting documents relating to his home.
The Taoiseach is due to give evidence tomorrow and Friday in a politically-charged week at the tribunal.
Tribunal counsel Henry Murphy SC claimed that Ms Larkin had given three different versions of how Mr Wall’s money was lodged in an Allied Irish Banks account through interviews and statements given to the inquiry.
But the witness insisted that her first account was later clarified by her as she pieced together the events in her head.
“They’re nonsense, aren’t they,” said Mr Murphy of some recollections.
When Ms Larkin showed surprise at the lawyer’s comment, Mr Murphy added: “You look startled.”
But she replied: “You want me to say that I was talking nonsense?”
The long-term relationship between Mr Ahern and Ms Larkin ended in 2003.
The former civil servant, who worked with Mr Ahern for several years, gave her evidence in front of a large media presence and about 200 people in the public gallery.
The Mahon Tribunal, which has been investigating planning corruption in Dublin since 1997, is currently probing the circumstances surrounding the building of a major retail development in west Dublin.
Ms Larkin agreed that Mr Ahern expected to be elected Taoiseach a few days after receiving the cash in December 1992.
However, she added that Labour leader Dick Spring “pulled the plug” on the Fianna Fail-led government and entered a coalition with Fine Gael instead.
The inquiry’s legal team claims that 45,000 US dollars and not a sterling sum was lodged into the AIB account in 1994 and then converted into Irish punts.
But Ms Larkin insisted that the briefcase contained sterling.
Explaining her difficulties in recollecting small details from the time, Ms Larkin said she had no idea in 1994 that she would appear before a public inquiry 13 years later.
“I cannot recall dates. I only recall events,” she said.
She added: “It’s always a surprise to get a telephone call from a tribunal,” she said.
She also told the tribunal that she did not read this morning’s newspapers about Mr Wall’s evidence yesterday. “Nor did I listen to the radio today,” she added.
The tribunal heard that Ms Larkin now owns a number of beauty salons and lives in Killaloe, Co Clare. She had been a voluntary worker in Mr Ahern’s Dublin Central constituency and worked as his secretary in government departments in which he was a minister.
