Judge Alan Mahon.

When then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern visited Canberra in 2000 to open the Book of Kells exhibition at the National Gallery, he was accompanied by a woman who was not his wife.

There was a time when such an arrangement would have attracted the ire of the Irish electorate – think Parnell – but in the modern Ireland, it went without comment. I mention it because the breakup of his marriage was one of the reasons he gave to explain his finances, described by himself as chaotic.

He was asked to give some explanation for this financial turmoil before a tribunal that he himself had set up in 1997 to look into dealings between developers and politicians. He said that $200,000 which had passed through his accounts in the 1990s was mainly the result of “dig-outs” or “whip-arounds” from friends.

Last week, that tribunal said that he had not “truthfully accounted” for those funds; it stopped short of using the word corrupt in his case, but did use it for other Fianna Fáil politicians, some of whom have already served time for corruption.

The tribunal ran for 15 years, the last nine under Judge Alan Mahon who has given the tribunal its name. It has sat for over 900 days and its report runs to more than 3,200 pages; it has cost the taxpayer over $100 million to date and that figure is expected to treble when all costs are in.

One of Mahon’s strongest criticisms was reserved for attempts by members of Bertie Ahern’s front bench to discredit the tribunal at a time when it seemed to be going after him most forcefully.

Almost all of those ministers have since retired or lost their seats in the 2011 wipeout of the Fianna Fáil party. Bertie himself has resigned, possibly to avoid the ignominy of being kicked out, as the party’s current leader said would happen.

Not surprisingly, the release of the report has led to fury in Ireland and to demands that people should serve time or have their pensions quarantined. Neither of those is likely to happen, because there is no shortage of senior counsel happy to take $2,400 a day (the going rate for those arguing before Mahon) to point out the absence of hard evidence.

But while the ordinary Irish citizen has every right to be angry, they might well be reminded that they elected Fianna Fáil to run the country in eight of the nine general elections between 1987 and 2011.

The electorate can now claim that they were fooled by devious politicians, but Mahon would have none of it, using words like “systemic” and “endemic” for corruption in Irish public life.

What’s more, with the exception of Charlie Haughey and Bertie Ahern and some other senior ministers, most of the brown paper bag payments were small, less than a few thousand dollars: local and national politicians who were not only corrupt but also cheap.

People living in Ireland were drip fed most of the revelations in the Mahon report over the years and waited for its release to know that what they had heard was more than rumour. For someone who taps in only infrequently to Irish news, there is the uncomfortable thought that this could be Zimbabwe or some third world country, not one’s country of birth. I mention three things in particular that made me sit up.

Mahon quotes the evidence of one developer, a man who had made his fortune in Britain and returned to Ireland when the property boom was just taking off. He attended a meeting in the seat of parliament, Leinster House, attended by Haughey, Ahern, Albert Reynolds and most members of cabinet to discuss a proposed development in west Dublin.

In the corridor after the meeting, he was accosted by a man from the meeting whom he did not know, who told him that he should deposit £5 million (1989 money, pre-euro) in a named account in the Isle of Man. Everyone except the developer concerned denies that such a thing ever took place.

Writing in an Irish newspaper at the weekend, Joan Burton, the (Labour) Minister for Social Protection in the current government tells of a talk she gave in 1993 in which she made some remarks about corruption and said that there should be open disclosure of payments from developers to local councillors. Afterwards, she received 42 solicitors letters demanding that she withdraw the remarks.

My favourite, however, was the answer given to the tribunal by one of Ahern’s benefactors when asked why he had given his “dig-out” in cash. He replied that Ahern was such an upright and proud person that if he was given a cheque, he might tear it up.

Yes, Prime Minister.

This piece originally appeared in The Canberra Times on March 27.

Former EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn has resigned from Fianna Fáil.

Corrupt politicians could be denied their public-service pensions as part of reform of the constitution on the back of the Mahon findings, it has been claimed.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the hardline approach could be looked at as the resignations of Bertie Ahern, Padraig Flynn and John Hannon were confirmed by Fianna Fáil.

“This question of pensions is an issue for the constitution and whether it is deemed to be a property right,” Mr Kenny said.

“The findings of the Mahon tribunal are not findings of court but they are findings of fact.

“I think the first thing we have to do is have the government reflect tomorrow on the findings of the tribunal and also deal with the recommendations of the tribunal.”

Joe Costello, junior minister responsible for overseas aid, said the pensions of people found guilty of misconduct and corruption could be stopped, but only on the back of a referendum.

Former Fianna Fáil leader and taoiseach Bertie Ahern sent a letter to party headquarters confirming his resignation ahead of a special disciplinary hearing on Friday.

Ex-minister and former EU Commissioner Flynn followed with a letter after South Dublin councillor Hannon had already confirmed his departure.

All three were facing expulsion at a crisis meeting of the Fianna Fáil national executive on Friday night.

A spokeswoman for the party said: “Fianna Fáil has this morning received correspondence from former leader Bertie Ahern confirming his resignation from the party.

“Our special Ard Comhairle meeting will continue as planned on Friday March 30 to debate the expulsion motions being brought against those other individuals named by the party leader last week, and to discuss the review of the organisation in Dublin Central.”

A meeting to discuss the futures of three others will go ahead on Friday.

Mr Ahern has also written two articles for national newspapers to defend his tarnished reputation.

Although no finding of corruption was made against Mr Ahern, Judge Alan Mahon said he did not believe the then taoiseach’s evidence on his financial affairs and payments of more than a quarter of a million pounds into accounts linked to him between 1993 and 1995.

Flynn, who served as a European Commissioner, was found to have secured a donation for Fianna Fáil only to keep it for himself and the money was used to buy a farm.

The veteran Mayo politician said in a short statement last week that has never sought nor received a corrupt payment during his career.

Former ministers Ray Burke and the late Liam Lawlor were also fiercely criticised for their behaviour.

Others in Fianna Fail singled out by the tribunal and facing expulsion at the Friday meeting are councillors GV Wright, Don Lydon and Finbar Hanrahan.

In an article in the Irish Times, Mr Ahern described his resignation as a real emotional wrench and warned that he will vindicate his good name.

The three-times taoiseach reiterated that he has never taken a corrupt payment and that he told the truth at the tribunal, which has left him deeply wounded.

Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee of Fine Gael will meet this week to deal with findings against members including Olivia Mitchell TD, who took IR£500 from corrupt lobbyist and former government press secretary Frank Dunlop while holding a council seat.

Another Fine Gael member, Anne Devitt, a sitting councillor, was found to have behaved inappropriately over the Cargobridge lands.

A three-day Dáil debate on the Mahon findings begins tomorrow evening.

Although no finding of corruption was made against Mr Ahern, Judge Alan Mahon said he did not believe the then taoiseach’s evidence on his financial affairs and payments of more than a quarter of a million pounds into accounts linked to him between 1993 and 1995.

Mr Flynn, who served as a European Commissioner, was found to have secured a donation for Fianna Fáil only to keep it for himself and the money was used to buy a farm.

Former ministers Ray Burke and the late Liam Lawlor were also fiercely criticised for their behaviour.

Others in Fianna Fáil singled out by the tribunal and facing expulsion at the Friday meeting are councillors GV Wright, Don Lydon and Finbar Hanrahan.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has quit the Fianna Fáil party.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has resigned from Fianna Fáil in the wake of a corruption inquiry, but insisted the findings of the probe had dealt him a grave injustice.

The Mahon Tribunal into the Republic of Ireland’s planning process accused Mr Ahern, one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, of not telling the truth in regard to a number of financial transactions in the 1990s.

His Fianna Fáil party had been due to vote on a motion to expel him and other colleagues named in the report next week – but his announcement has pre-empted that move.

“The last thing I want to do, given that I have now retired as a public representative, is to be a source of political division in the party I care so deeply about,” he said.

“I appreciate the support that party members have pledged to me unprompted in the past week.

“I have decided the best way that I can now serve Fianna Fáil is to tender my resignation as a member of the party.”

Mr Ahern, who revealed his decision in an article for Ireland’s Sunday Independent, said leaving Fianna Fáil was a “political decision” and insisted it should not be interpreted as an admission of wrongdoing.

He said he left with “immense sadness and genuine regret” but also with a deep affection for the grassroots members of the party.

The inquiry shamed a series of senior figures in Fianna Fáil, once considered the dominant, establishment party in Irish politics.

It did not brand Mr Ahern, the leader of three coalition governments, as corrupt but refused to accept any explanations he offered for a quarter of a million of bank lodgements he made in the early 1990s.

The tribunal panel sat for over 15 years, heard 900-plus days of public sittings and conducted extensive forensic financial trawls.

It left Mr Ahern’s political legacy shattered – none of his evidence for lodgements of more than IR£250,000 between 1993 and 1995 were accepted.

The inquiry also warned it could not find where some money came from.

Current Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said achievements by Mr Ahern, like the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, were real and enduring but could not absolve him from facing the implications of the report.

He had called for him to be expelled from the party ranks.

But Mr Ahern has signalled an intent to challenge the findings of the tribunal, claiming they were not infallible.

“This week has been an extremely difficult and emotional one for me,” he said.

“I am hurt and disappointed by the findings of the Mahon Tribunal.

“At the outset, I want to make it clear I have done nothing wrong or dishonest.

“I never took a corrupt payment from anyone and I told the truth to the Mahon Tribunal about my finances and the difficult personal circumstances I found myself in.

“I believe a grave injustice has been done to me.

“I bear the members of the Tribunal no ill-will. They faced a daunting task. But their findings in relation to me are not correct. They are plain and simply wrong.

“I have to be true to myself. It would be far easier for me to say nothing and try to forget about this nightmare.

“But I can’t allow this blemish on my character to go unanswered. What has been said about me is erroneous, unwarranted and unjust.

“And I am under no doubt these findings have damaged my reputation.

“I am now actively considering my options as to how I can and I will vindicate my good name.”

Bertie Ahern after giving evidence to the Mahon Tribunal in 2004. The long-awaited final report of Ireland's Mahon tribunal, the Ireland's longest running corruption inquiry, was released overnight. (Pic: Haydn West/PA)

Former taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has insisted he never accepted a bribe or corrupt payment after a long-awaited corruption inquiry found he did not tell the truth about a labyrinth of cash payments.

The 15-year Mahon Tribunal did not brand the leader of three coalition governments corrupt, but it refused to accept any explanations he offered for a quarter of a million of bank lodgements he made in the early 1990s.

“Much of the explanation provided by Mr Ahern as to the source of the substantial funds identified and inquired into in the course of the tribunal’s public hearings was deemed by the tribunal to have been untrue,” the report concluded.

But Mr Ahern said the findings were not of a court of law and defended his reputation as having been dedicated to politics and serving the interest of the Irish people in politics.

“I have never accepted a bribe or a corrupt payment,” he said.

Mr Ahern said the tribunal had not made – nor could it make – a finding to support the “scurrilous and untrue allegation” that he had been paid off by Cork-based developer Owen O’Callaghan.

“On this key substantive point there is no evidence whatsoever to show I received anything from Mr O’Callaghan,” he said.

“Nor could there be because, put simply, this never happened.”

Mr Ahern said it was no more than rumour and gossip. But current Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it was without question that the office of leader of the Irish Government had been stained by Mr Ahern’s actions.

“The tribunal speaks for itself – a litany of unacceptable statements from the former taoiseach,” Mr Kenny said.

The Government is referring the report to the Garda Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Revenue Commissioners and the Standards in Public Office Commission.

The ruling national executive of Fianna Fáil will also meet next week to decide proposals by leader Micheál Martin to expel him and other party members named in the report.

Mr Martin said Mr Ahern had betrayed the trust placed in him by his country and his party.

The inquiry itself over 15 years, 900-plus days of public sittings and mind-boggling forensic financial trawls has shamed a series of senior figures in Fianna Fáil, once considered the dominant, establishment party in Irish politics.

Mr Ahern’s political legacy has been shattered – none of his evidence for lodgements of more than IR£250,000 between 1993 and 1995 has been accepted. The inquiry also warned it could not find where some money came from.

Tribunal chief Judge Alan Mahon said he could not rule out or establish any basis in the allegations that Mr Ahern had been paid off by Mr O’Callaghan with IR£80,000.

Mr Ahern, ironically the man who ordered the tribunal in 1997, was investigated as the inquiry into planning for a major shopping centre in west Dublin became murkier and murkier.

Mr O’Callaghan was alleged by another developer and former partner, Tom Gilmartin, to have boasted about the pay-off.

It was found evidence by broadcaster Eamon Dunphy that he was told by Mr O’Callaghan that he had “taken care of” Mr Ahern corroborated the allegation.

All of Mr Ahern’s explanations for convoluted transactions were branded untrue – wins on the horses, dig-outs from friends, unsolicited handouts from 20 millionaires, six years of savings and refusal to use bank accounts.

Neither could he explain why the money was coming in old Irish punts, Sterling and US dollars.

:: Attacks on tribunal

As for former Cabinet colleagues – three of whom are still in frontline politics including current leader Mr Martin, Willie O’Dea and Eamon O Cuiv – they also have serious questions to answer after Judge Mahon’s ruling.

The inquiry chief used his final report to launch a withering attack on the ex-ministers who rolled out to defend their taoiseach in his final months as leader.

In one section, he claims his work was savagely attacked and undermined.

“It (the tribunal) came under sustained and virulent attack from a number of senior government ministers who questioned the legality of its inquiries as well as the integrity of its members,” the report said.

“It was entirely inappropriate for members of the government to launch such unseemly and partisan attacks against a tribunal of inquiry … to inquire into serious concerns regarding corruption in public life.

“There appears little doubt that the objective of these extraordinary and unprecedented attacks on the tribunal was to undermine the efficient conduct of the tribunal’s inquiries, erode its independence and collapse its inquiry into that individual.

“They were as regrettable as they were ill-considered and unfounded.”

The tribunal found former minister and European Commissioner Padraig Flynn was corrupt. He took IR£50,000 from a developer who felt under duress and coerced. The money was supposedly for the Fianna Fáil party but went towards buying a farm in Mayo.

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds was tipped off about the dodgy deal when assembling a Cabinet in 1994 but took no action.

Mr Flynn and three former county councillors also found to have taken corrupt payments face expulsion from Fianna Fáil for conduct unbecoming of the party.

Other Fianna Fáil figures named include Liam Lawlor, who died in a car crash in Moscow in 2005, and who was branded corrupt for forcing payments out of Mr Gilmartin as he looked to build around Bachelor’s Walk in Dublin city centre.

He claimed to be acting on behalf of the government and took IR£75,000 over 11 months from mid-1988.

Mr Lawlor, who spent six weeks in jail for refusing to co-operate with the tribunal, was also found to have demanded a 20% stake in Quarryvale, where the Liffey Valley shopping centre now stands.

Elsewhere, a Garda investigation in the late ’80s was also criticised. The inquiry found that complaints were not thoroughly investigated and that Mr Lawlor’s position as a TD may have played a part in a decision not to interview him.

A Garda report went so far to exonerate Mr Lawlor.

In a lengthy statement tonight, Mr Ahern said he will continue to examine ways in which to vindicate his name.

“I am incredulous that the tribunal has made findings rejecting the evidence of a number of individuals – including a number of friends who loaned me money – whose evidence supported mine,” he said.

The former taoiseach said his personal finances were “chaotic” and during busy and personally traumatic period in his life, but he had never done anything wrong or illegal.

“I have never received a corrupt payment and I have never done anything to demean any office I have held,” he said.