Bertie says he is struggling to pay tribunal bills

hotmail.com

Bertie has given an interview for TV3's new programme on the Rise and Fall of Fianna Fail, which starts this Monday.

He's said many interesting things in the course of the interview, but TV3 have leaked this beaut.

FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has said the planning tribunal has already cost him €500,000 and he is struggling to pay his legal bills.He told Ursula Halligan in the first of a three-part TV3 series on Fianna Fáil, to be shown next Monday, that “I don’t have those kind of resources"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0901/1224303294200.html


No doubt about it, he continues to damage the reputation of the office of the Taoiseach (some feat given what Charlie did) and he's damaging his own reputation, even further, by coming out with these statements.

It's almost unbecoming of a former prime minister to say such things.

Plus, does anyone believe a word he says nowadays?

ballsymchugh

he doesn't have those resources? maybe he could ask his millionaire daughter for a dig out? or would that throw up all sorts of tax issues that he never sorted out in the first place?

hotmail.com

Are you suggesting another whip around? :rolleyes:

He has had very little expenses in the last 15 years, what with being driven around for free, getting the expenses on food, make up etc. What did he spend his very generous wages on?

charlemont

Pity him, He wont go hungry unlike some people who do pay their bills.

hotmail.com

It's a very sad and embarrassing time for Bertie.

Oh and Cowen refused to take part in the programme...Perhaps a wise decision from his point of view.

thebman

3 part interview ... ... so its Bertie Gate :P

CatFromHue

I'm not hugely familar with the tribunals (other than a lot of barristers/solicitors etc made a lot of money!) what was the end verdict?

I didn't think Bertie was fingered for anything and as such should he have to pay 500,000 euro? That's a ridiculous number for anyone to have to pay!

leeroybrown

CatFromHue wrote: »

I didn't think Bertie was fingered for anything and as such should he have to pay 500,000 euro? That's a ridiculous number for anyone to have to pay!

Anyone who turned out to be cooperative with the Tribunals got out with little or no legal bills. His €0.5m bill is appropriate for and consistent with the contempt he treated the Tribunal with and the high legal costs incurred due to it. I have no sympathy for him.

bmaxi

Why doesn't he take his own advice and go and top himself, that would solve his problem.
Why do the media persist in indulging this fcucker, have we not suffered enough?

bryaner

I absolutely hate the bastard, if I got within striking distance I'd have to..

Dr Galen

There might well be some legs in a discussion around the fall from grace of our former boss man, but that said, lets not let this become a lowest common denominator slagging match. As this is the Politics forum, we do expect a higher level of discussion that you might find on other forums. Please bear that in mind when posting

Monty Burnz

Is there any real likelihood that his apparent corruption will ever be punished? I think the odds are very, very long - which indicates to me that there is a problem with a system that can allow this type of thing to go unpunished. If a criminal walks, that's the fault of the justice system, not the criminal.

Of course, most of the damage he did can be attributed to venality and sheer incompetence - neither of which are against the law.

DEVEREUX

My heart bleeds

meglome

leeroybrown wrote: »

Anyone who turned out to be cooperative with the Tribunals got out with little or no legal bills. His €0.5m bill is appropriate for and consistent with the contempt he treated the Tribunal with and the high legal costs incurred due to it. I have no sympathy for him.

Agreed.

He went in there are tried to spoof his way through, which they kept catching him at. He kept lying and they kept bringing him back, thus costing him a fortune. I'm sure we're all upset for him.

scholar007

He gives the FF cumainn a bit of a lashing as well;

"He said many of the cumann in the 1970s and 1980s were “useless” in building up the party vote, and recalled one particular cumann which refused to canvass for him in Sean McDermott Street. “Quite frankly, they were a bunch of useless good-for-nothings.”

Methinks the Bert is a bit peeved at not fulfilling his goal of running for the Presidency.

Now, Fagans 8pm this evening - I'll be the one passing around da hat for da oul dig out. Anyone got Paddy da plasterers number?

jmayo

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm not hugely familar with the tribunals (other than a lot of barristers/solicitors etc made a lot of money!) what was the end verdict?

I didn't think Bertie was fingered for anything and as such should he have to pay 500,000 euro? That's a ridiculous number for anyone to have to pay!

Well then maybe you should go familiarize yourself with them and then you might see how bertie obfuscated, misled and generally treated the tribunal with contempt.

Or then again maybe we should pay it for him, like we pay for his secretaries, travel, phone bills, etc. :rolleyes:

CatFromHue

jmayo wrote: »

Well then maybe you should go familiarize yourself with them and then you might see how bertie obfuscated, misled and generally treated the tribunal with contempt.

Or then again maybe we should pay it for him, like we pay for his secretaries, travel, phone bills, etc. :rolleyes:

What was the end verdict of the tribunal though?

Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no. The law should be changed.

Coillte_Bhoy

CatFromHue wrote: »

What was the end verdict of the tribunal though?

Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no. The law should be changed.

Which tribunal? What law should be changed? What secretaries? I think when you said you didnt know much about these things, you should have left it at that, no?

bijapos

With a Taoiseachs pension well in excess of €100k, his money from his TD's pension, speakers tours etc it shouldn't take him too long to pay it off if he was prepared to live like a commoner for 5-10 years or so.

The main thing though is that all those who owe money to the tribunal should be made to pay it back in full with interest. I don't want a Beverley Flynn style let off. It will be an interesting test of FG and Lab to see if they do chase Aherne and his like for the money.

Poly

When his amazing form reading abilities, surely a bill of €500k could be resolved by a trip to the Galway races? (just remember to hang on to those betting slips, Bertie)

CatFromHue

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Which tribunal? What law should be changed? What secretaries? I think when you said you didnt know much about these things, you should have left it at that, no?

I meant tribunals, as in the ones that cost him 500,000.

My post was in response to JMayo's post which referenced Bertie's current secretaries and mobile phone bill etc.

In a sentence like "Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no." I'd have thought it fairly straight forward what law I was talking about!

Imhof Tank

CatFromHue wrote: »

I meant tribunals, as in the ones that cost him 500,000.

My post was in response to JMayo's post which referenced Bertie's current secretaries and mobile phone bill etc.

In a sentence like "Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no." I'd have thought it fairly straight forward what law I was talking about!

Help you out here Cat -

Its the Mahon Tribunal the OP refers to

It hasnt reported yet

Just how likely is it that he coughed up the 500k up front and rather than getting a team of FF loyalist barristers to act on credit (no harm in building up the practice and maybe even get a nomination or whatever at local electtion time you never know) and wait for the Tribunal report for the really big cheesecake to roll in?

Mr.Applepie

hotmail.com wrote: »

Are you suggesting another whip around? :rolleyes:

He has had very little expenses in the last 15 years, what with being driven around for free, getting the expenses on food, make up etc. What did he spend his very generous wages on?

Dis and Dat. Doing up the garden, pints with the lads and maybe an auld bet on the dubs!

zootroid

Huge salary while Taoiseach, expenses, generous pension, not to mention any income he received from private sources (after dinner speeches, advertising for the News of the World etc) means I'm sure he's not shy of a few bob. I think this is just another ploy to try garner some sympathy (just as he did while being interview by Brian Dobson).

My heart bleeds.

jmayo

CatFromHue wrote: »

What was the end verdict of the tribunal though?

Hasn't reported as yet so of course according to true ff tradition nobody is responsible for anything until like ray burke they are finally so dirty that eventually they are found guilty in court.

CatFromHue wrote: »

Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no. The law should be changed.

Well we all know ffers don't have morals, now don't we.
Funny how members of that party never technically have done anything wrong.

ahern should have no trouble paying even twice that amount.
Firstly he was one of the best paid leaders in the Western world for 10 odd years.
He got leaving lump sum and is on huge pension.

He has not had to worry about motoring or travel expenses from early 90s until 2008 due to being in government or leader of the opposition.
Now he is ex leader.
He was on handsome susbsistence amounts for all those years as well.

He got guy based in Manchester to do up his house before he bought it and he had a great eye for the nags. :rolleyes:

Oh and if really pushed he can ask the daughter who purports to be a writer or the one married to the guy who purports to be a singer to give their old man a digout.
Failing that charlie or paddie can have another whip around for him. :rolleyes:

HellsAngel

Poly wrote: »

When his amazing form reading abilities, surely a bill of €500k could be resolved by a trip to the Galway races? (just remember to hang on to those betting slips, Bertie)

Mr.Applepie wrote: »

Dis and Dat. Doing up the garden, pints with the lads and maybe an auld bet on the dubs!

Maybe we should have a " Lets all laugh/spit at Fianna Fail " sticky ??

jmayo

HellsAngel wrote: »

Maybe we should have a " Lets all laugh/spit at Fianna Fail " sticky ??

Well they spat on us for long enough and have had the last laugh as most of the top ones got to wander off with nice lump sums and massive pensions.

Spit on them, I wouldn't p*** on them if they were on fire. :mad:

Godge

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm not hugely familar with the tribunals (other than a lot of barristers/solicitors etc made a lot of money!) what was the end verdict?

I didn't think Bertie was fingered for anything and as such should he have to pay 500,000 euro? That's a ridiculous number for anyone to have to pay!

CatFromHue wrote: »

What was the end verdict of the tribunal though?

Regarding the secretaries etc. as far as I know he isn't doing anything technically wrong. Morally yes, technically no. The law should be changed.

So let me see, you are NOT familiar with the tribunals, particularly the Mahon tribunal, which have been reported on at length in the newspapers for the last 10 years. But you are familiar enough with whatever obscure law governs the terms of his current entitlements to secretaries etc. to be confident enough that he isn't doing anything technically wrong.

Only a few possibilities:rolleyes::

(1) You are about twelve years old and only familiar (albeit in depth) with the most recent controversy;
(2) You are Martin Mansergh and have chosen to ignore the tribunal evidence but have an innate familiarity with the country's legal system;
(3) You have a PhD in law specialising in Irish administrative law for retired Taoisigh and you have no interests outside your chosen subject;
(4) You are a closet Bertie Ahern supporter

HellsAngel wrote: »

Maybe we should have a " Lets all laugh/spit at Fianna Fail " sticky ??

Would probably need a new sub-forum as you would want separate threads for Bertie, Ray Burke, P. Flynn, his daughter, McCreevy, Cowen, O'Dea, O'Cuiv, Hanafin, etc. I am going to stop listing them all before I cry. Martin would probably provide the best laughs as he goes about his job of completing the demolition of the FF parts.

Godge

double-posted by mistake

SEPT 23 1989

Cornered rat goes for the throat,wonder what else he will come out with before its all over?

CatFromHue

Godge wrote: »

So let me see, you are NOT familiar with the tribunals, particularly the Mahon tribunal, which have been reported on at length in the newspapers for the last 10 years. But you are familiar enough with whatever obscure law governs the terms of his current entitlements to secretaries etc. to be confident enough that he isn't doing anything technically wrong.

Only a few possibilities:rolleyes::

(1) You are about twelve years old and only familiar (albeit in depth) with the most recent controversy;
(2) You are Martin Mansergh and have chosen to ignore the tribunal evidence but have an innate familiarity with the country's legal system;
(3) You have a PhD in law specialising in Irish administrative law for retired Taoisigh and you have no interests outside your chosen subject;
(4) You are a closet Bertie Ahern supporter

How incredibly condescending! I genuinely don't understand why you'd even post anything so belittling. In my opinion it just portrays you in a bad light. It is true I wouldn't be an expert on the Mahon tribunal as it began when I was 15. I don't know about you but between the ages of 15 and 25 most people would not have a detailed grasp of politics. An overview yes but no more.

The reason I would have said he isn't technically wrong is that it was reported that previous Taoisigh have the same privileges. It is these reported privileges which I believe should be changed as I believe voluntary self governance on privileges like this never works. There will always be someone who will abuse them to get as much as they can out of it.

Mr.Micro

Where are all his pals to give him a little dig out and whip round? I am sure the costs can be paid in whatever currency he has, provided he has learned the difference.

Fianna Fail starting to turn on each other and sling mud.. this should get interesting. It will all come out about Bertie and his mafios in the next two years

Mr.Micro

Deleted User wrote: »

Fianna Fail starting to turn on each other and sling mud.. this should get interesting. It will all come out about Bertie and his mafios in the next two years

When all the pigs were feeding at the trough they were all pals, pigs in s*it now the trough is gone and there are only 20 pigs left.

Godge

CatFromHue wrote: »

How incredibly condescending! I genuinely don't understand why you'd even post anything so belittling. In my opinion it just portrays you in a bad light. It is true I wouldn't be an expert on the Mahon tribunal as it began when I was 15. I don't know about you but between the ages of 15 and 25 most people would not have a detailed grasp of politics. An overview yes but no more.

The reason I would have said he isn't technically wrong is that it was reported that previous Taoisigh have the same privileges. It is these reported privileges which I believe should be changed as I believe voluntary self governance on privileges like this never works. There will always be someone who will abuse them to get as much as they can out of it.

Look anyone who has followed the Mahon Tribunal enough to get an overview knows in their gut that Bertie was corrupt. He took money from people for his own lifestyle - Manchester digouts, whip-arounds in pubs, house bought cheaply, cash in safes etc. Some of those who helped him out ended up on state boards. While there may not be enough to prove it in a legal sense, anyone with half a brain believes it. The only ones who are afraid to say it are closet FF supporters.

Then hiding behind technicalities to defend Bertie's abuse of taxpayers money since his retirement only confirms your allegiances. Why hide it?

Mr.Micro

Godge wrote: »

Look anyone who has followed the Mahon Tribunal enough to get an overview knows in their gut that Bertie was corrupt. He took money from people for his own lifestyle - Manchester digouts, whip-arounds in pubs, house bought cheaply, cash in safes etc. Some of those who helped him out ended up on state boards. While there may not be enough to prove it in a legal sense, anyone with half a brain believes it. The only ones who are afraid to say it are closet FF supporters.

Then hiding behind technicalities to defend Bertie's abuse of taxpayers money since his retirement only confirms your allegiances. Why hide it?

Conceit and deceit, two obligatory requirements of being a Fianna Failer.

the realpigiron

Bertie should be banged up.

neiphin

CatFromHue wrote: »

The reason I would have said he isn't technically wrong is that it was reported that previous Taoisigh have the same privileges. It is these reported privileges which I believe should be changed as I believe voluntary self governance on privileges like this never works. There will always be someone who will abuse them to get as much as they can out of it.

he lied and obfiscated to the tribunals,
forget about the secretaries and phone bills, you diverse
the rat cannot pay his bills (legal, he said )
if he told the truth this would not be a problem
why oh why would anyone believe him now

goat2

Bertie was very luck with the horses in the past, i am sure he could come up lucky again, and win enough again to pay all his bills

Liam Byrne

goat2 wrote: »

Bertie was very luck with the horses in the past, i am sure he could come up lucky again, and win enough again to pay all his bills

Do you SERIOUSLY believe that ?

Maybe he'll just screw us again by claiming for "secretaries" and using the cash to pay the bills incurred due to his lies and delaying tactics ?

Definitely wouldn't put it past the weasel.

imme

ballsymchugh wrote: »

he doesn't have those resources? maybe he could ask his millionaire daughter for a dig out? or would that throw up all sorts of tax issues that he never sorted out in the first place?

which one?:D

Tomk1

bijapos wrote: »

With a Taoiseachs pension well in excess of €100k, his money from his TD's pension, speakers tours etc it shouldn't take him too long to pay it off if he was prepared to live like a commoner for 5-10 years or so.

It would take me 10yrs to get what he gets per year, I suppose he'll write another fictional-book tax-free (as his an artist).
Take his house, why should he be treated any different to any of us commoners.

He is showing no respect for this country, the law of this country, nor the struggling people of this country.

An ethical man would just own-up and pay-up, and in the 1st place just co-operated from the start, saving the state a lot of money n' time, if it's costing him X-amount, then the tribunal is costing the state many times that amount.

Sell your GAA tickets Bertie ??