Ahern breaks a leg but will not miss crucial vote in the Dáil

FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was taken to hospital yesterday with a fractured leg.

After treatment in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, he was released with his leg in plaster. There was no information about the circumstances in which Mr Ahern fractured his leg, but Fianna Fáil sources suggested that he had fallen down stairs.

It was not clear whether the incident happened at Mr Ahern's Drumcondra home, at his nearby constituency office of St Luke's or elsewhere.

"Bertie fell down the stairs laughing at the mess his successors have made of things over the past few days," said one wag in Leinster House last night.

According to party sources, Mr Ahern's injury will not stop him from being in the Dáil tonight for the critical vote on the Fine Gael private member's motion calling for a reversal of the Government's decision to abolish medical cards.

The sources said Mr Ahern would do his duty by the party and go through the division lobbies tonight, even if he was on crutches.

Mr Ahern was said to be in good form last night as he watched the Manchester United versus Celtic Champions League match on television with his leg up.

In the past, TDs have turned up for crucial Dáil votes even when very ill. Fianna Fáil TD David Andrews was carried through the lobby on a stretcher for a vital vote in the 1980s, while late Fine Gael TD Oliver Flanagan appeared in the Dáil chamber for a vote when he was terminally ill.