Joe Burke's term as port chairman lapses in April

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will have to decide within weeks whether his friend Joe Burke, whose building business is in liquidation with debts of up to €1.5 million, should be reappointed as chairman of Dublin Port.

Mr Burke's term as chairman of the company that controls some of the State's most important infrastructure will lapse on April 24th, by which time Mr Ahern's re-election campaign will have begun in earnest.

The appointment to the post does not fall to Mr Ahern in the first instance but the Taoiseach has the ultimate veto in all political appointments to semi-State bodies such as the Dublin Port Company.

A former Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr Burke is close to Mr Ahern. He was one of 12 friends who gave Mr Ahern loans of €49,500 around the time of his marriage break-up.

His firm J&H Burke and Son Builders Ltd, which specialised in pub renovations, came before the High Court this week when a liquidator was appointed to wind up the business.

A statement detailing the exact extent of the firm's debts must be presented in early February, but the firm is understood to be in the red by €900,000-€1.5 million.

A spokesman for Dublin Port did not provide an answer when asked whether Mr Burke would be seeking reappointment. The annual turnover of the the port company exceeds €60 million. The port made pre-tax profits of €15.9 million in 2005.

Mr Burke was named to the prestigious post in April 2002 by then minister for the marine Frank Fahey, who had political responsibility for ports at that time.

His appointment was among a number of political postings to State bodies announced two weeks later, a day after the Dáil was dissolved for the 2002 election. This led to charges of "cronyism" from Fine Gael and Labour.

It emerged that Mr Burke had requested a place on the port company's board from the Taoiseach and that the Progressive Democrats had not been consulted in advance. Then tánaiste Mary Harney was only notified after it was made.

It will fall to Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen to reappoint Mr Burke, if he wishes to continue in office. Such appointments are made in consultation with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, Michael McDowell.