As the only citizen in the State who has the power to apply to dissolve the Dáil, it is incumbent on the Taoiseach that that constitutional power would be exercised in the public interest - not his personal financial interest.
Late last week, Mrs Hazel Lawlor, widow of the late Liam Lawlor, failed to stop the re-opening of the Mahon tribunal. Subsequently, the tribunal circulated documents to interested parties for its public hearings to commence last Monday. Clearly, the tribunal members were intent on embarking on their inquiries and were not influenced by prevailing election fever or the anticipation of its call.
Undoubtedly, from all that we now know, these separate events weighed heavily on Bertie Ahern's mind. He became desperate, realising that he would have to exercise his public function to prevent a personal disadvantage on the eve of the election.
This is the most rational explanation for Mr Ahern's furtive visit to President Mary McAleese in the early hours of last Sunday morning to dissolve the 29th Dáil.
His personal dilemma became obvious not just to the gathered media, but to his Government and party colleagues, at the unexpected launch of the Fianna Fáil campaign later last Sunday. The failure of the party machine to roar into action is unprecedented.
In circumstances where the tribunal has been silenced, it is more incumbent on the media to discharge its duty to the public interest and to publish information pertaining to the Taoisaeach's conduct as a high office-holder during an election campaign.
It is important to remember that when the controversy arose last September over the payments to Mr Ahern, while he was minister for finance, some two-thirds of voters thought that they were wrong. They looked up close at the alternative taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Mr Ahern's ratings soared.
People believed then that Mr Ahern, as he asked them to believe, had given them the full picture about his personal finances, bared his soul, infringed his own privacy surrounding his separation from his wife and told them all in the Bryan Dobson interview on RTÉ. We now know that this was not the case.
The Irish Times received a letter from the Mahon tribunal last evening "to request" this newspaper to "desist from publishing" reference to information obtained from the unauthorised disclosure of documents necessarily circulated to a number of parties. The request was made in "the interest of the constitutional rights of all individuals affected by such premature disclosure".
This newspaper has investigated the Taoiseach's finances because it has an equal constitutional duty to serve the public's right to know about its leaders, especially during an election campaign. Are we now to be silenced?
This can't but be an issue in the campaign.Whether it is a deciding issue or not in the general election remains to be seen.