Bertie not out of the woods yet

Bertie Ahern has survived yet another Dáil inquisition, adroitly mangling the English language to further confuse key issues. Most of all the £50,000 he had "saved" during that "dark" period - emotionally and financially - from 1987 to 1993, when he did not have a bank account.

It must have been a torturous ordeal for him generally over the last few weeks. But it is not over for him, nor for his party, nor for his Government. Another leak or scandal would be fatal. Were evidence to emerge that he got a further payment from someone, he is gone. He is wounded now and will remain so until well after the election.

The most worrying prospect for him must be the resumption, in public session, of the planning tribunal's Quarryvale II module. It is this module that is to investigate how the Quarryvale/Liffey Valley project got under way, what money (if any) changed hands to enable it to happen, what "donations" were made to what political campaigns. And in the midst of these inquiries will be an inquiry into Cork-based Owen O'Callaghan, who was one of the main backers of Quarryvale.

It was in relation to these inquiries that Bertie had to give his bank account information and other material to the tribunal. And it is in relation to these inquiries that the tribunal may have sought information on the precise nature of the separation agreement Bertie entered into with his wife.

This seems terribly intrusive but if, for the sake of illustration, it emerged that Bertie had to make a large lump-sum payment in relation to the marriage separation and there was no credible answer to the question as to where he got this money, then that would be relevant, wouldn't it? He seemed to have denied yesterday in the Dáil that he made a "huge" lump-sum settlement in the context of his marriage settlement. But that rather begs the question.

Already the tribunal must be bewildered by Bertie's claim that he did not have a bank account from 1987 to late 1993. This must be frustrating to the tribunal for, it would seem, there is no way it can conduct the usual money-trail investigation to determine whether any improper payments were received during this time. The tribunal must be even more perplexed by a casual remark Bertie made in the Dáil on Wednesday of last week: "Over that period, my wife and I had joint accounts in our names. For obvious reasons, I did not use our joint account. I used cheques separately to deal with issues, and I did not open an account in my own name until afterwards."

"Used cheques separately to deal with issues" - what cheques and what issues? And "I did not open an account in my own name until afterwards"? Is there an insinuation here that he opened an account in some other name, or that he used someone else's account during this time? And if he was using accounts under an alias or using someone else's account, what alias and whose account did he use? All very complicated for the tribunal. And then there is that £50,000 "saving" that Bertie made during the period from 1987 to 1993. Presumably he was paying the mortgage on the family home in Malahide, presumably he was paying maintenance for his wife and two daughters. And on top of that he was financing himself outside the home.

Admittedly, he was one of the better-paid people in society, as minister for finance, and, as with all politicians, he enjoyed tax breaks which the rest of us don't enjoy. But still, saving £50,000 during this difficult time? At a time when in one of his explanations he said he did not have the use of a bank account!

But if this tribunal inquiry ever gets going, it is certain to prove difficult for Bertie again. Not that he necessarily did anything wrong at the time, but because the complications and intricacies may be so Byzantine that they give rise to more suspicions. Coming on top of the damage which the recent fracas has inflicted, that could prove devastating.

And then there are the difficult issues arising from the favours that seem to have been done for Owen O'Callaghan at a time when, according to Tom Gilmartin, he (O'Callaghan) gave large donations to Fianna Fáil.

The High Court judgment arising from the application by Owen O'Callaghan for an injunction to prevent the tribunal inquiring further into the Quarryvale business is due next week. Whatever the outcome, it will be appealed to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court is so minded, it could treat this as a matter of urgency, but who knows nowadays how the Supreme Court is likely to be minded?

As I am writing this, Bertie is saying St Luke's had nothing to do with him - that is the house in Drumcondra which he uses as his constituency office. But he used St Luke's for years as his place of residence. He has stated in the past that he paid rent on this while he lived there.

But how much? And wasn't St Luke's acquired and renovated, at considerable expense, to meet his accommodation needs after he left his family home? So what is this that it had nothing to do with him? This story will run.