PDs to seek more details on Ahern house purchase

The Progressive Democrats will today seek extra information from the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern about the purchase of his Dublin …

The Progressive Democrats will today seek extra information from the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern about the purchase of his Dublin home in 1997 following indications he may have bought it from one of the businessmen who attended the 1994 Manchester dinner.

Last night Fine Gael and Labour both said Mr Ahern's failure to tell the Dáil of his connection with Michael Wall had cast serious doubt on his statement on Tuesday relating to a payment of £8,000. Mr Ahern had not informed Tánaiste and Progressive Democrats leader Michael McDowell about the issue before it was made public last night, Progressive Democrats sources said.

Unwilling to say too much until further information becomes available, a PD spokesman said: "We are not making any comment on this story this evening. We are considering it."

The house, in a development off Griffith Avenue, in Drumcondra, Dublin, was bought by Mr Ahern from Michael Wall in late 1997. Mr Wall purchased the house in March, 1995.

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Documents in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, show Mr Wall gave his address in 1995 as Ashford, Cong, Co Mayo, when he was buying the Drumcondra house. When he sold the house two years later, in late 1997, he gave his address as 25 Herbert Place, Dublin.

That address is now used as offices. Mr Wall's execution of the deed of sale was witnessed by MP Farren, of Wyotherstone Road, Manchester. Efforts to locate this person have been unsuccessful. Mr Wall's execution of the deed of purchase was witnessed by Gerard M. Brennan, Solicitor, Dublin 2. On Tuesday RTÉ's Nuacht reported that the dinner in Manchester after which Mr Ahern was given money, was attended by a Michael Wall, formerly of Ashford, Cong, Co Mayo, but now with an address in Manchester.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ahern had no comment when asked last night if the man who had sold the Drumcondra house to Mr Ahern in 1997, was the same Michael Wall as the one who had attended the Manchester dinner.The man who attended the dinner left Cong, Co Mayo, when he was 17-years-old and has lived in Manchester for 47 years. He is a former owner of a coach hire business and is a shareholder in companies registered in Ireland and the UK.

One Irish company, Wallrock Ltd, is a quarrying and construction business owned by Mr Wall and his brother Stephen. It has its registered address in Ashford, Cong, Co Mayo. The documents in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin show Mr Ahern took out a mortgage on the Drumcondra property in November 1997 from Irish Permanent. There is no indication the mortgage has been cleared.

Documents show that Mr Wall took out a mortgage with the ICS Building Society in March 1995, and cleared it in November 1997. In a book about Mr Ahern by journalists Eugene Masterson and Ken Whelan, it was stated that Mr Ahern had moved into his home two years before the book was published.

It said he had bought the house for £139,000, using a mortgage of £100,000. Mr Ahern co-operated with the book's authors and has never denied this.