Two bizarre scenarios presented to inquiry

Analysis:Tribunals are intended to be inquisitional rather than adversarial but as any observer can tell you, people who find their affairs being investigated by tribunals rarely experience them that way.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday made it clear he feels the tribunal is trying to "stitch him up" and is going to "unbelieveable" lengths to concoct elaborate scenarios, rather than simply accept his evidence.

It is obvious from yesterday's hearing that the tribunal continues to be far from satisfied with the account and the sworn testimony Ahern has given in relation to lodgements made to his accounts in the 1993 to 1996 period.

Otherwise, the slow pace of the proceedings, and the extent to which the detail of Ahern's personal affairs are being probed into, would not have occurred.

The day's evidence crystallised around a £19,115 loan taken out by Ahern on December 23rd, 1993 and which he used to make payments associated with the separation agreement he'd reached with his wife in late November.

On the same date, he signed a form to open a special savings account, and on December 30th, 1993, essentially the next business day, he lodged £22,500 to this account.

Ahern has said the £22,500 was given to him by his solicitor, the late Gerry Brennan, on December 27th.

Brennan and the former Fianna Fáil fundraiser, Des Richardson, had organised a whip round for Ahern, he said, to help him allay his legal bills, including, bizarrely, fees due to Brennan and settled with the December 23rd loan.

Ahern has said he accepted the £22,500 despite the fact that, on his own evidence, he had in excess of £50,000 in cash savings at the time, the existence of which, he says, prompted him to initiate the opening of the savings account on December 23rd.

He was queried closely about the whole matter by Des O'Neill, and when he expressed puzzlement about this, O'Neill put to him another scenario that could fit with the available evidence.

The savings account document signed by Ahern on December 23rd may have been initially dated December 14th. O'Neill suggested that Ahern could have discussed his need for a loan with the bank on December 14th, then set about acquiring the £22,5000 which he would lodge with the bank as backing for the loan. The loan was taken out on December 23rd and allowed accumulate interest for 18th months, without any repayments being made, rising to an amount roughly equivalent to £22,500.

Without a doubt the scenario presented by O'Neill, and rejected by Ahern, is bizarre. The difficulty that exists for Ahern is that the scenario he has presented to the tribunal is also bizarre.

The money he says he was given by close friends included £15,000 cash which cannot be traced. A £2,500 cheque came from Richardson, and a £5,000 draft was funded, the tribunal has been told, by Padraic O'Connor of NCB. However, O'Connor has said he never intended making a payment to Ahern.

His evidence is the payment he authorised from NCB in 1993, was intended for Ahern's Fianna Fáil cumann in Dublin Central.