The trustees of St Luke's, Bertie Ahern's former office in Drumcondra, issued a statement tonight in which they said they are going to hand over ownership of the property to the Fianna Fáil party.
The trustees said they were making the statement "in regard to ongoing and misinformed newspaper speculation" about their intentions in relation to the property.
They confirmed the property, which had been included in inquiries carried out by the Mahon tribunal, is currently held in the name of the trustees for the benefit of Fianna Fáil in the Drumcondra electoral area.
The statement said the former taoiseach had informed the trustees of his intention to resign from the party and had "urged" them to enter into "constructive and positive discussions" to arrange for ownership of the property "to be vested in the party nationally".
Earlier this week, Joe Burke, a former Fianna Fáil councillor and staunch supporter of Mr Ahern's, told The Irish Times he would discuss the future of St Luke’s with its two other trustees, Tim Collins and Des Richardson.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin had already announced his intention to restructure the Dublin Central constituency branch and to transfer the branch’s assets, including St Luke’s, to the party’s general secretary.
Tonight's statement said the trustees have been in contact with the general secretary with a view to commencing discussions on transferring ownership of the property which was bought in 1988 for £56,000 and renovated so that it could be used as a constituency centre for Mr Ahern.
On speculation in the media about their intentions regarding St Luke's, the trustees said: "Statements suggesting that the trustees intend to hold onto St Luke’s for themselves or that the trustees are opposed to Fianna Fáil Headquarters having control of St. Luke’s are inaccurate and totally without foundation."
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