Manchester event 'was not organised as a fundraiser'

Apart from the Manchester contributions, no other personal money was raised outside the State, Mr Ahern said in reply to Opposition…

Apart from the Manchester contributions, no other personal money was raised outside the State, Mr Ahern said in reply to Opposition statements.

"Any other fundraisers I would have been involved in were party-political fundraisers, done in the normal way. It was not a fundraiser done for me, it was not organised as a fundraiser."

He said he did not personally own his constituency headquarters in Drumcondra, Dublin, known as St Luke's.

"It is owned by the Fianna Fáil party. I have no long-term beneficial interests."

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On questions raised by Pat Rabbitte relating to bank accounts, the Taoiseach said: "If I have to go into that, I will go into it . . . He asked a fair question if I had any bank accounts in my own name. I did have several bank accounts jointly with my wife. But I was not using those banks accounts from the time of my separation until the separation was over.

"I had one account in my own name, which was a dormant account."

He added that he had no accounts outside the State.

He had operated for a long period without a bank account and kept money in his own possession during that period. "But I had no other accounts . . ."

Mr Ahern repeated that he had rejected an offer in the Republic from some friends who knew he was in difficulties to have a fundraiser.

He had insisted that the only way he would accept money was in the form of loans he would pay back.

In Manchester a contribution was made which he had not expected. He was not there in an official capacity.

Mr Ahern said that in any fair examination of the issue, nobody would accept that sleaze, cronyism, big business interests, conflict of interest or patronage were correct charges.

Michael O'Regan

Michael O'Regan

Michael O’Regan is a former parliamentary correspondent of The Irish Times