Analysis:The only money trails that exist bring party funds into the frame, writes Colm Keena.
While out on the airwaves Fianna Fáil Ministers were criticising the tribunal, inside Dublin Castle yesterday the issue of whether Fianna Fáil money could have ended up in Bertie Ahern's pockets was hovering over proceedings.
Tribunal counsel Des O'Neill SC, outlined a money trail that started with a party cheque signed by Ahern and, by way of a loop or two, ended up in his savings account in AIB.
Ahern, who was Fianna Fáil's national treasurer at the time of the transactions, responded: "I see nothing wrong with that."
The "dig-outs" he says raised £39,000 for him in 1993 and 1994 left very little by way of a money trail. The bulk of the money was paid in cash, the tribunal has been told.
Moreover, all witnesses who have appeared to date and said they contributed cash, have said they did so from personal cash resources, and without having to make any withdrawals that would be recorded in bank archives.
However, along with the cash Ahern lodged a draft for £5,000 and a cheque for £2,500, and these two items have left money trails.
The cheque was written on the account of a company called Willdover Ltd, which Ahern's friend and associate, Des Richardson, controlled in 1993. Richardson had been appointed by Ahern earlier in 1993 as chief national fundraiser for the party, and had set up an office in the Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin. He was hugely successful, clearing a £3 million debt in less than two years.
He billed the party £5,000 a month for his services, by way of invoices raised by Willdover.
On December 15th, 1993, Richardson submitted a Willdover invoice for £18,744 to Fianna Fáil HQ. Included in the amount was £15,000 in fees for himself, with the balance being payment for a secretary.
The invoice led to a cheque for £18,744 being written on December 22nd on the Fianna Fáil account into which the proceeds of Richardson's fundraising activities were lodged when he passed them on to party HQ.
The cheque was signed by Ahern, one of the signatories on the account.
On the day it was written the cheque was lodged to Willdover's bank in Montrose, Stillorgan, Co Dublin, where Richardson also had a personal account which was in funds.
The lodgement of the cheque put the Willdover account into credit. A cheque written by Richardson on the Willdover account on the same day, for £2,500, was made out to cash, and this cheque ended up in Ahern's savings account on December 30th. Ahern has said it was part of the first "dig-out", which totalled £22,500.
The Taoiseach said forcefully yesterday that he saw no difficulty with this paper trail. The invoice to Fianna Fáil was for money owed to Richardson.
It was "money he'd earned and he was entitled to pay whoever he wanted" out of the money, he said.
Of course Ahern is quite right, but it looks bad. And the difficulty for him is that the second paper trail that exists, for a draft for £5,000, also brings money donated towards his political activities into the frame.
The tribunal has been told the draft was funded with a contribution made by the then managing director of NCB Stockbrokers, Pádraic O'Connor, following an approach from Richardson seeking a personal donation to Ahern.
However, O'Connor has said the payment came not from him but from NCB and was issued after Richardson said he was seeking to raise funds for Ahern's constituency operation.
O'Connor said Richardson said he was seeking £5,000 each from a number of stockbroking firms and that for competitive reasons he decided the firm should not refuse.
Ahern has said O'Connor was a close personal friend of his, particularly in the 1990s; whereas O'Connor has said he had a business friendship rather than a personal friendship with Ahern.
The Taoiseach insisted yesterday he thanked O'Connor in January 1994 for the personal contribution.
O'Connor in his evidence to the inquiry some time ago, said he had never been thanked by Ahern. In fact, Ahern's legal team did not opt to cross-examine O'Connor when he gave evidence before the tribunal.
Moreover, the two paper trails that exist connect the funds lodged to Ahern's personal savings account on December 30th, 1993, back to funds raised for his personal activities, or those of his party.
O'Neill, in the course of his questioning, said the tribunal would have to decide if the December 1993 "dig-out" ever in fact occurred.
Ahern responded by pointing out that evidence about the "dig-out" has already been given by a number of people who said they were contributors, and he named: Richardson, Jim Nugent, David McKenna, Charlie Chawke and O'Connor.