FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern's evidence to the Mahon Tribunal has not damaged the Government's call for a Yes vote, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan last night told RTÉ's Week In Politics programme.
However, Mr Ahern's finances were "not a pretty picture and the tribunal has to make sense of this. Of course it doesn't appear he has done anything wrong in terms of the tribunal's terms of reference, but it is not a pretty picture.
"At the same time I always maintained that he should not have accepted any money. I have been quite consistent on that from the time of the first revelations in 2006, but I did not believe it was a hanging offence.
"And I do feel from the point of view of history when the scales are weighed his achievements will far outweigh this particular episode," said Mr Lenihan, who was asked whether he believed Mr Ahern won £5,500 sterling betting on horses:
"Well that is what he says - the tribunal is going to have to make sense of it.
"I think the transition to the leadership of Brian Cowen has been a very peaceful one. It has been a very constructive phase in the history of Fianna Fáil and it does put us in a position to tackle the economic problems and also to campaign for the Yes vote," he said.