Tribunal wants to quiz Ahern over plans for casino

14 September 2008  By John Burke and Ian Kehoe

The Mahon Tribunal has told former taoiseach Bertie Ahern that it intends to question him on plans for a casino development in the Phoenix Park in Dublin when he returns to the witness box tomorrow.

Ahern has also been informed that he will be quizzed about the proposal to build a stadium at Neilstown in west Dublin, which was being advanced by property developer Owen O’Callaghan. Lawyers for the planning tribunal in Dublin Castle circulated documents in relation to the Phoenix Park lands last Friday, putting Ahern’s legal team on notice that it planned to question the former taoiseach in relation to the aborted project.

However, Ahern’s lawyers are expected to object to any attempts to question him on the subject. They will argue that, following a decision by the Supreme Court in July, the tribunal is not allowed to investigate the Phoenix Park lands.

Ahern’s lawyers will also oppose any attempt by the tribunal to question him about his relationship with English businessman Norman Turner, one of the main backers of the Sonas consortium behind the project. Ahern frequently attended Manchester United matches with Turner, and fast-tracked an Irish passport for him in 1994.

John Hynes, the former chief executive of An Post, has claimed that Ahern gave implicit approval to the National Lottery to enter talks with the Sonas consortium about becoming involved in his plans for the casino. Ahern was minister for finance at the time of the talks in the early 1990s.

Ahern has rejected claims that he ever supported the plan, and has pointed out that he ultimately rejected it in 1997. The casino plan never materialised, due partly to a lack of political support from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Mahon Tribunal could not consider matters that had not been explicitly listed for hearing by May 2005.Ahern’s lawyers will claim that this covers the Phoenix Park lands.