THE FORMER manager of the building society branch which held the "B/T account" told the tribunal yesterday he had assumed it stood for "Bertie and Tim".
Blair Hughes, who managed the Irish Permanent Building Society branch in Drumcondra, said he had no reason to believe the account was operated for or on behalf of the Fianna Fáil party, the local cumann or that it related to a building trust.
The tribunal was told last week by Tim Collins that B/T stood for Building Trust and denied, in response to a question from counsel for the tribunal, that it stood for Bertie and Tim.
It was out of this account that Celia Larkin was lent £30,000 towards the purchase of her elderly aunts' home.
Mr Hughes said yesterday he knew Mr Collins was a close associate of Mr Ahern. Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon asked him what prompted him to believe that Mr Ahern was a part-owner of the account.
"I may have been advised by people in the branch when I arrived that had experience with it," Mr Hughes said. "But I can't remember actually having discussed it with anybody."
Counsel for the tribunal, Henry Murphy SC, said that on October 26th, 1994, IR£20,000 was lodged to the B/T account. On the same day, stg£20,000 was exchanged into Irish at parity, yielding IR£20,000.
The transactions were consecutive, were carried out on the same machine and by the same teller.
"Can you say . . . it was the sterling amount converted that was lodged to the B/T account?" Mr Murphy asked. "From the documents, I'd say it's correct," Mr Hughes said.
