Ahern denies acting improperly over house

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern has issued a lengthy statement on his finances in which he calls allegations that he took money from developers as "false" and "malicious" and insists that he acted properly in all his dealings in connection with the purchase of his Drumcondra house in 1997.

In a five thousand word statement published this afternoon Mr Ahern describes leaks about his personal finances as an attempt to "discredit me and to damage Fianna Fail" and called them "an act of public deception".

"In political debate, robust exchanges are par for the course. I accept that as a fact of life. But what I don't accept is the trawling through my family, matrimonial and personal circumstances," Mr Ahern said. "My family have suffered from the tactic of selective disclosure and the publication of half-truths.

"I stand accused of no crime but find day in day out lurid news headlines and copious details of my private life distorted, misrepresented and sensationalised.

"Some details of my house have been published but others — which explain what happened — are ignored. The full facts are suppressed. Accusation is presented as fact and distorted fact is presented as reality. Today I have presented a complete picture for everyone to view."

He robustly denies allegations that he behaved improperly and provides details of the money which was spent on his house by both Mr Wall and himself before Mr Ahern's purchase of the property in 1997.

"In 1994 I agreed to rent the house from Mr Michael Wall which he was intending to buy for occasional use on his visits to Dublin and because of the fact that he was considering setting up a business in Ireland.  It was agreed he would use it as a place to stay on his visits to Dublin. I rented the house for two years, from 1995 to 1997, over which period I paid market rent on the house."

Mr Ahern described the period as a time of "enormous change" in his own life when he went from being Minister for Finance, to leader of Fianna Fail who expected to be Taoiseach, to leader of the opposition, to Taoiseach.  "My plans and circumstances were constantly changing, and that is why the details may be complex".

He said Mr Wall paid the deposit of £13,800 sterling on the house from his own bank account and that the stamp duty on the house was paid for out of Mr Wall's own funds.

"Mr Wall and I agreed that I would have an option to purchase the house.  I intended to exercise this option when my political future was clear and secure.  This occurred later, when I was elected Taoiseach.

"It was decided to carry out refurbishment and other work and it was agreed that each of us would contribute to the cost of this work. My former partner Ms Larkin agreed to administer this work, as I was very busy and Mr Wall lived in England.  About £50,000 was spent on this work.

"Mr Wall provided about £28,700 for refurbishment and related expenses and to cover the stamp duty on his purchase.  . . I provided about £30,000 towards the work on the house."

The 13-page statement includes details of the expenditure on the house over the period in question and 22 pages of invoices and receipts relating to the rental and purchase of his home. Mr Ahern's contribution covered furnishing and decoration while Mr Wall's money was spent on structural alterations to the property.,

In the statement Mr Ahern also refuted, once again, allegations made by Mr Tom Gilmartin that he had accepted money from property developer Mr Owen O'Callaghan.   "I have made it clear, and have shown, that I never received money from any person or company for any improper purpose," he said.  "The two allegations made by Tom Gilmartin are false and malicious."

He said he had been in political life for 30 years and the only transactions being examined by the Mahon Tribunal covered "a period of 24 months immediately following the resolution of my matrimonial difficulties and during a period of great flux in my life.  The timing of these transactions needs to be seen in that context," he said.

"There is no pattern over many years or decades in high office of unexplained financial transactions.  My lifestyle is as simple as it is honest.  There was and is no vast wealth and no high lifestyle," he insisted.

Mr Ahern said he would not accept the verdict of his political opponents "or the masters of the half-truth" on how he has behaved. He added that he would place his reputation and career "in the hands of the only people whose judgment matters - the Irish people for whom I have worked as hard as is humanly possible".

Concluding his statement Mr Ahern accepted that some people woudl "feel that some aspects of my life are unusual. I am sorry if that has caused any confusion or worry in people's minds. All of  these issues arose in a period when my family, personal and professional situations were rapidly changing and I made the best decisions I could in the circumstances in which I found myself."

Speaking on RTE radio this afternoon the Tanaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Michael McDowell said he was happy with Mr Ahern's statement and expressed the hope that a line could now be drawn under the issue.

The Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said today's statement had not changed his position and he was still more interested in focussing on the future of the country rather than the Taoiseach's past.