St Luke's to transfer to Fianna Fáíl

The trust that controls St Luke’s, Bertie Ahern’s constituency office in Drumcondra, Dublin has signalled its willingness to transfer ownership to Fianna Fáil.

In a statement last night, the trustees said they had contacted Fianna Fáil general secretary Seán Dorgan to start discussions to ensure ownership of St Luke’s passed to the party nationally.

The party’s national executive meets this evening to discuss leader Micheál Martin’s intention to restructure the Fianna Fáil branch in Mr Ahern’s former Dublin Central constituency and to transfer its assets, including the headquarters at St Luke’s, to the general secretary.

The meeting had also been due to discuss Mr Martin’s plans to expel six members, including the former taoiseach, following the publication of the planning tribunal report last week. However, all six resigned voluntarily in the past week, obviating the need for motions of expulsion.

In their statement, the trustees of St Luke’s, Joe Burke, Des Richardson and Tim Collins, said statements suggesting they intended to hold on to the property for themselves or that they were opposed to Fianna Fáil headquarters having control of it were “inaccurate and totally without foundation”.

They said Mr Ahern, before he announced his resignation from Fianna Fáil, urged them to co- operate with headquarters and to enter into “constructive and positive discussions” to bring about a situation where ownership of the property would be vested in the party nationally.

Individual members of the officer board in Dublin Central are in agreement with these discussions taking place, according to the trustees. Apart from St Luke’s, other assets in the constituency include about €50,000 on deposit in a number of accounts.