The Moriarty tribunal has begun an examination of 11 cheques countersigned by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in 1990/ 1991 and totalling £30,974. Half the amount was spent in the expensive Dublin restaurant, Le Coq Hardi.
The money came from the Fianna Fail party leader's account, of which Mr Ahern was a co-signatory along with Mr Charles Haughey and Mr Ray MacSharry. During the time in question Mr MacSharry was a member of the European Commission and Mr Ahern was, in effect, the only person apart from Mr Haughey who had responsibility for the countenancing of payments from the account.
According to the evidence of Ms Eileen Foy, a former private secretary to Mr Haughey, Mr Ahern pre-signed all the cheques issued during the period in question. This was why she could say for sure that a particular cheque had been pre-signed by Mr Ahern, she said.
The fact that Mr Ahern signed the cheques when they were still blank explains how he was able to say to the tribunal in July that he did not know until recently that the party leader's account was used for the lodgement of donations to the medical fund for the late Mr Brian Lenihan. Presumably for the same reason, he did not know about the cheques used to pay for Mr Haughey's shirts from Charvet in Paris.
Mr Jerry Healy SC, counsel for the tribunal, said the tribunal was going to examine the operation of the party leader's account in detail, despite the fact that most of the files were not available. It would examine "the manner and by whom it was operated". In relation to 11 cheques which were displayed on the overhead monitor at the tribunal, he said, it would be necessary to establish how the cheques came to be written and signed and what information the signatories had in relation to the purpose of the cheques. In all 11 cases the cheques were signed by Mr Ahern and Mr Haughey.
The cheques were made out to: Adare Manor (one, for £2,403); Celtic Helicopters (two, totalling £5,900); Le Coq Hardi Restaurant (five, totalling £15,082); and AIB, the bank where the account was held (three, totalling £7,570).
Ms Foy said she had discussed the matter of the Lenihan fund about three weeks ago with the former Fianna Fail national treasurer, Mr Paul Kavanagh. Mr Kavanagh has already given evidence that he believes the fund did not manage to reach the target set for it, which he thought was £150,000. Ms Foy said yesterday that Mr Kavanagh had told her he thought £120,000 to £140,000 had been raised.
Bank statements for the party leader's account show the balance was normally in the region of £16,000. However, during May/ June 1989, when Mr Kavanagh's fund raising drive was under way, the balance rose to £186,000. By August/September 1990 the balance had dropped again to approximately £7,000. However, the total payments from the account for Mr Lenihan that are known total only £82,000. Ms Foy said she believed that Mr Lenihan might also have been given cash, though when questioned she could give no reason why she held this belief. She also suggested that contributions to Fianna Fail for the 1989 general election could have been put in the account, but said she could not remember this happening.
The tribunal heard previously about a cheque from Irish Permanent for £10,000, dated October 1990 and made out to Mr Haughey, which was lodged to Celtic Helicopters. A cheque for £10,000 and made out to cash was written by Celtic Helicopters on November 14th and yesterday it was revealed that this cheque was lodged to an account in the EBS in the name of Ms Maureen Haughey.
Mr Frank Clarke SC, counsel for the public interest, addressed the tribunal on a number of issues, including the issue of the tribunal inquiring into matters concerning Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH). In a reference to an article carried in The Irish Times, he said that a recent newspaper report had given a misleading impression of recent contacts between the chairman of the tribunal and the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell, in that it gave the impression the contact was initiated by Mr Justice Moriarty.
In fact, the contact was initiated by the Attorney General in the context of a Labour Part resolution to the Dail. On foot of the contact, the Attorney General initiated consultation with the leaders of the political parties for the purpose of ascertaining their views on the matter. Mr Clarke said each of the leaders agrees the chairman can proceed with any inquiry that properly arises within the tribunal's terms of reference.
Mr Justice Moriarty said he would not give an ad-hoc ruling on the matter. Earlier this year the chairman said he felt precluded from inquiring into matters concerning CRH, because of a large shareholding he had in the comp any at the time of his appointment. He has since sold the shares.