The fall-out from the Moriarty Tribunal and the unacceptable behaviour of the Haughey years continues to threaten the Coalition Government. In the Dail, yesterday, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, declined to answer questions from the Opposition parties about his knowledge of a special Allied Irish Banks account in Baggot Street, Dublin, into which the State paid the Fianna Fail leader's allowance when Mr Charles Haughey was party leader. And he justified this refusal on the grounds of legal advice received from the Moriarty Tribunal.
Other monies raised on behalf of Mr Haughey were also paid into this fund. And a cheque for £25,000, drawn on this account in 1989, signed by Mr Haughey and countersigned by Mr Ahern, then Minister for Labour, is the source of the present controversy.
The money was transferred to a Guinness & Mahon bank account under the control of Mr Haughey's financial adviser, the late Des Traynor, for the beneficial use of Mr Haughey. The issue has been further complicated by the fact that files dealing with this account are missing from Fianna Fail head office.
Mr Ahern explained that the Moriarty tribunal had advised him not to make any public comment on these matters because of the confidential nature of this phase of its work. And when Opposition pressure became intense, he vindicated his stance by reading large chunks of legal correspondence with the tribunal lawyers into the Dail record.
It was a meticulously constructed defence. But it wasn't wholly convincing in substantiating Mr Ahern's claim to be a person unable, but not unwilling, to tell everything. Previous failures by the Taoiseach to advise the Dail about relevant political matters have damaged his credibility. In that regard, his reluctance to draw public attention - or that of the Tanaiste, Ms Harney - to a Rennicks donation received by Fianna Fail through Mr Ray Burke, caused serious tensions within the Government. And his behaviour in relation to the Sheedy controversy didn't help. The Taoiseach's convoluted response on this latest issue raises as many questions as it answers.
Going back to his statement of September 10th, 1997, it would seem Mr Ahern not only withheld information from the Dail, by declining to identify his own role as a counter-signer of cheques, but sought to confuse it as well. He had been asked by Mr Dick Spring to include the period 1983-87, when £750,000 of State funds was paid to Fianna Fail, and a further period from 1987 to 1991, when £250,000 was paid, within the Moriarty Tribunal's terms of reference. But Mr Ahern dealt only with the Opposition period in the Dail when rejecting this request. And he insisted the bank account had been used only for bona fide party purposes.
Mr Ahern has found himself in an unenviable position. As he told the Dail, yesterday, there is no proof of wrong-doing in relation to the bank account or the £25,000 cheque. That matter is currently under investigation by the Moriarty Tribunal. It was the Taoiseach himself who referred the issue to the tribunal, even if it first arose from an inquiry instituted by the Tanaiste. But uncertainty and suspicion is a canker that undermines governments. The sooner the Moriarty Tribunal ventilates this issue in public session, or privately lays it to rest, the better for Irish politics.