Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today he believed a donation he received in 1993 as part of a whip-around was from the personal funds of former managing director of NCB stockbrokers Padraic O'Connor.
The Mahon tribunal heard last week that the payment was requested by former Fianna Fáil chief fundraiser Des Richardson and was made through a false invoice. However, Mr O'Connor maintains it was not a personal donation and that he was not a close friend of Mr Ahern.
Mr Ahern
Asked by reporters in Dublin this morning if it was wrong to use a false invoice, Mr Ahern said: "I knew nothing about that, I knew nothing whatever about the invoice or how it went.
"I always believed that the money I received was from Mr O'Connor. Actually I believed it was his personal money, but that was the position. I think it was a very unusual way of going around it.
"The way it was done is not the way I would do it. It was done between the two of them [Mr Richardson and Mr O'Connor]," Mr Ahern added.
In evidence last week, Mr Richardson said he asked Mr O'Connor, as a friend of Mr Ahern, to make a personal donation to Mr Ahern in 1993 when he was minister for finance, to help cover the legal expenses associated with his marital separation. The contribution was part of a whip-around that raised £22,500 for Mr Ahern.
The tribunal heard that Mr Richardson purchased a draft of £5,000 for Mr Ahern, on the promise of Mr O'Connor's donation.
However, Mr O'Connor maintained that the donation was never a personal one and was made by NCB for Mr Ahern's constituency expenses. Mr O'Connor also said he was not a close friend of Mr Ahern and that he had met him only "once or twice" since leaving NCB eight years ago.
Mr O'Connor recounted the details of the original request for money made by Mr Richardson. He said Mr Richardson called to his office and asked for a donation specifically for Mr Ahern's constituency expenses.
After the meeting, Mr O'Connor discussed whether or not to make the donation with senior colleagues in NCB, including financial controller Chris McHugh.
They decided they would make it, but they would keep it confidential. The payment was made through a false invoice from Euro Workforce Ltd, the tribunal was told, a company formerly owned by Mr Richardson.
