Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste and Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht from November 1994 to December 1994, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Industry and Commerce in January 1993, Minister for Finance from 1991 to 1994, Minister for Labour from 1987 to 1991, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Defence from March 1982 to December 1982 and Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1986 to 1987. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011. In 1994, Ahern was elected the sixth Leader of Fianna Fáil. Under Ahern's leadership, Fianna Fáil led three coalition governments.
Ahern is the second-longest serving Taoiseach, after Éamon de Valera. Ahern resigned as Taoiseach on 6 May 2008, in the wake of revelations made in Mahon Tribunal, and was succeeded by Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.[1] The Mahon Tribunal in 2012, found that Ahern, while not judged corrupt, had received monies from developers and the Tribunal disbelieved his explanations of those payments. Fianna Fáil proposed to expel politicians censured by the tribunal, but Ahern resigned[2] from the party prior to the expulsion motion being moved. In November 2016, it was announced that a decision had been made by Fianna Fáil to give Ahern the option of rejoining the party.[3] #BertieAhern
Money from developer Allegations had been made that he had taken IR£50,000 (€63,300) from a property developer, Owen O'Callaghan, in return for favours at this time. Ahern won a libel action against a Cork businessman, Denis "Starry" O'Brien, defending himself against this allegation. However, broadcaster Eamon Dunphy, has testified in the Mahon Tribunal that he was told by developer Owen O'Callaghan, that Ahern was "taken care of" to support a shopping centre development in the 1990s.[96] This followed the initial allegations, denied by Ahern and O'Callaghan, by retired developer Tom Gilmartin, that O'Callaghan told him that he had given Ahern a payment of £50,000 in 1989, and a payment of £30,000 in 1993, in connection with a development of lands at Quarryvale, west Dublin. Gilmartin further alleged being told that O'Callaghan had paid Ahern in excess of £20,000 in relation to tax designation of a site in which O'Callaghan had an interest in Athlone, the designation having been Ahern's last act as Finance Minister, before the Fianna Fáil-led Government fell in December 1994. Ahern was responsible for placing disgraced former Dublin West TD Liam Lawlor, as head of the Dáil Ethics Committee, despite having been told by Tom Gilmartin many years beforehand that Lawlor had corruptly demanded money and had thwarted Gilmartin's plans when Gilmartin refused to comply.
In March 2007, one of Ahern's Manchester benefactors, Paddy "The Plasterer" Reilly, was appointed as the Fianna Fáil director of elections, for Ahern's Dublin Central constituency. In April 2007, it was alleged[97] in a statement by his former official driver, that Ahern in 1994, while Minister for Finance, took a briefcase full of cash to Manchester. This has been denied by Ahern. While the payment details initially seemed to damage Ahern's standing, the result of the 2007 general election, indicated that the damage was minor. In April 2007, an opinion poll found that nearly half of voters believed Ahern still had questions to answer over the payments controversy.[98 ]
