Dublin publican Charlie Chawke last night congratulated his "close friend" Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for his performance in the Dáil yesterday and said he believed he had "told it as it was".
Speaking at the unveiling of a bronze statue of himself at his pub, The Goat Grill in Goatstown, Dublin, Mr Chawke told assembled friends and regulars of the pub - who donated the money for the statue - that he would "congratulate him for surviving and why shouldn't he?"
Government chief whip Tom Kitt, who also attended last night's function, expressed confidence that the Progressive Democrats' concerns "should certainly have been addressed today".
"I'm hoping people will leave this issue now," he added.
Mr Chawke said afterwards that Mr Ahern, whom he first met more than 20 years ago, would have been very welcome at last night's function. Mr Chawke was among a group of eight people who lent Mr Ahern £22,500 in December 1993.
He confirmed that as of last weekend, the total amount of money refunded by Mr Ahern which is to be donated to the charity Children at Risk in Ireland (Cari) stands at approximately €60,000.
"I thought that he performed very well and he told it as it was I think. It must have been very hard again for him to have to go through it all," he said.
"He's a great friend and you can go out and have a drink with him and there's no politics ever discussed . . . and that's what his friends like about him.
"I know that he's a close friend of mine and I'm a close friend of his . . . we intended to give it to him as friends, not as a loan, but he accepted it as a loan and said it was the only way he would accept it."
Last night's unveiling of the statue, by longtime friend of Mr Chawke Fianna Fáil Senator Eddie Bohan, was organised without his knowledge. It was timed to coincide with the third anniversary of an armed robbery in which Mr Chawke was shot outside the bar. His leg was subsequently amputated.
Among the others present last night were Mr Chawke's wife, Bernice, his children, and singer Red Hurley, who performed Limerick, You're a Lady accompanied by the assembled crowd.