O'Brien was accused of forgery by judge

The political pressure on the Taoiseach has eased after it emerged that the man who alleges Mr Ahern and another senior Fianna Fail politician received £100,000 in payments was once accused of forgery by a High Court judge.

Mr Denis O'Brien, of Ballyharoon House, Glanmire, Cork, yesterday identified himself as the source of the allegations.

In a statement Mr O'Brien, a businessman with some property interests, claimed he was "doing a message" for a developer.

In 1989 Mr Justice Barr accused Mr O'Brien of forging a letter and said he would have considered having him charged with perjury but for the absence of a written transcript in the case.

Mr O'Brien, a former chairman of Glen Rovers hurling club, has been embroiled in extensive litigation with two banks over his house and business interests.

Given Mr O'Brien's failure so far to produce the promised documentary evidence to back up his claims, political reaction yesterday tended towards a "wait and see" approach. The Flood tribunal has issued orders against Mr O'Brien seeking evidence to substantiate his claims.

Meanwhile, a significant proportion of the public does not believe Mr Ahern's denial that he received £50,000 as alleged by Mr O'Brien, according to a poll published at the weekend.

Some 46 per cent of the respondents to an IMS opinion poll in yesterday's Sunday Independent said they did not believe Mr Ahern's denial of the allegation. Some 36 per cent accepted his word while 18 per cent expressed no opinion.

However, the popularity of the Coalition remains high at 57 per cent. With a rating of 67 per cent, Mr Ahern is still by far the most popular of the party leaders.

Mr O'Brien told the Sunday Business Post yesterday he was standing over his claims that he delivered two cheques for £50,000 each to Fianna Fail politicians in 1989. He said he was given a cheque for £100,000 by the developer which he lodged to a Cork branch of the Irish Nationwide Building Society.

He then withdrew two cheques for £50,000, which he said were passed on to the politicians. One was allegedly handed over in the car-park of the Burlington Hotel in Dublin and the other at the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork.

Last Monday the Taoiseach trenchantly denied this allegation. "I never received one penny from Owen O'Callaghan, for myself, for the party, or for anyone else . . .I never got money anywhere else, either," he said.

In a statement issued through his solicitors, Mr O'Brien said he was in "ongoing confidential discussions" with the tribunal. On legal advice, he could not comment further.

In February last year Anglo-Irish Bank Corporation took High Court proceedings against Mr O'Brien and his wife claiming they owed the bank £145,000 with interest. The couple claimed the bank had incorrectly calculated the interest.