Fund-raiser cleared off debt of £3.5m

Mr Des Richardson, the 49-year-old recruitment agency executive at the centre of the most recent controversy over contacts between business and Fianna Fail, has been a loyal supporter of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, since the early 1980s.

It was Mr Richardson who, when asked to help Mr Ahern's constituency fund-raising effort, replaced the assorted events used with one annual fund-raising dinner in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.

The idea proved to be a huge success. Tickets at £120 per night were bought by some 500 people from the building and other business sectors. As Mr Ahern's career made progress, interest in attending the annual dinner increased and came to include corporate supporters.

The annual dinner is so successful that it defrays the annual costs incurred by Mr Ahern's substantial constituency machine, and makes a contribution towards the mortgage repayments on St Luke's, the Dublin Central constituency headquarters in Drumcondra used by Mr Ahern.

It was no surprise, then, when Mr Ahern was appointed Fianna Fail party treasurer in 1993, that he asked Mr Richardson to be full-time party fund-raiser, a job which had not existed up to then. Mr Richardson took on the task at a salary of £70,000.

The party debt at the time was about £3.5 million. Mr Richardson set himself up in a room in the Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge.

"He organised golf classics and fund-raising dinners. He was very successful. He had the debt cleared by the time of the 1997 general election, and probably before it," said one source.

"He's a very sound person with very good judgment. He's quietly efficient. There's no huffing and puffing, he just goes and does the job. He's very focused."

Mr Richardson's fund-raising activities were the subject of some controversy when it emerged two years ago that some supporters were assisting the party by way of "pick-me-up". This involved the contributor paying bills which had been incurred by the party.

The scheme left open the possibility that corporate contributors could claim the payment as a legitimate expense, saving the VAT bill involved.

A catering bill for £11,250, incurred by Fianna Fail during the 1996 Galway Races, was picked up by Frank Dunlop and Associates, though Mr Dunlop said his company had made no tax claim against the bill.

Mr Richardson resigned last year from his position with Fianna Fail and was replaced by Ms Natasha Fennell, daughter of the writer Mr Desmond Fennell. Mr Richardson has not disclosed his reason for leaving but it may be linked to his taking on an executive role with the recruitment agency Marlboro Holdings, in January of last year.

The company's accounts for 1999 indicate the eight executive directors shared renumeration of just under £1 million that year.

Mr Richardson was appointed to the board of Aer Lingus in November 1997. The position does not involve significant payment but does entitle Mr Richardson and his family to worldwide concession-rate travel.

Mr Richardson was involved in the internal Fianna Fail inquiries into payments to Mr Ray Burke. Mr Burke told the Flood tribunal last year that he told Mr Ahern and Mr Richardson in a pub in Swords in 1998 that he had a "political fund" but not that it contained more than £100,000. Mr Richardson is likely to appear before the tribunal.

Mr Richardson is a native of Dublin, having grown up in the Liberties and Lombard Street, off the South Circular Road. His brother Damien played soccer with Home Farm, St Patrick's Athletic and in England, and now manages Shamrock Rovers. Mr Richardson trained as a civil engineer but disliked the job and switched to working for Workforce Services, a recruitment firm.

It is understood he did well in this field and was comfortably off by the time he took up his full-time position with Fianna Fail. He lives in Torquay Road, Foxrock, with his wife Fran and their three daughters.