Ray Burke expected to return to meet advisers next week

Sources close to Mr Ray Burke have dismissed reports that he has gone on the run after the interim report of the Flood tribunal found he had taken corrupt payments.

The former Fianna Fáil minister is in Britain at the moment, but is expected to return next week for a meeting with his advisers.

"If he was going to do a runner, he'd have done it years ago," said one contact. "It's just not his style."

In recent weeks Mr Burke and his wife, Ann, have been staying in hotels in Oxford and other parts of southern England, according to yesterday's Sunday World.

He has made no effort to return calls from the Criminal Assets Bureau since leaving the country last month, the report stated.

Friends say he left for a break after the report came out, but returned after two weeks. He has since travelled abroad again by car. He has been in contact with his advisers throughout this period.

Mr Burke's main asset in Ireland is his house in Whitehall in north Dublin, valued at over €800,000, although this is held in his wife's name.

He moved there two years ago after selling Briargate, the house in Swords where he received a corrupt payment from JMSE for almost €4 million. The couple's two daughters live in Dublin.

The former politician has already made a substantial settlement with the Revenue Commissioners in respect of all but one of the payments he received from businessmen.

There has been speculation that the CAB will issue a multi-million-euro tax bill in relation to Briargate.

The tribunal found that he corruptly acquired the house for nothing from builders Brennan and McGowan in the 1970s.

However, it is not clear whether the bureau would have the power to issue such a demand under existing legislation. The Government has said it intends to set up a body similar to the CAB to deal with political corruption.

Mr Burke was not at home last month when CAB detectives visited the home in Whitehall and took away a large quantity of documentation, including bank statements and other financial records.

Friends says he has suffered a severe loss of self-esteem and is "shy and embarrassed" in public since the Flood tribunal report was published.