In case anyone is in any doubt as to why the Tribunal is so interested in the B/T account. There are a number of reasons.
The main reason I can discern is the volume of £5,000 lodgments.
The second reason is the two large other lodgments of £19,000 and £20,000.
For a moment, forget everything that Collins and Ahern have said and look coldly at the figures. Imagine that B/T stands for Bertie/Tim, as four PTSB staff have sworn to believe it to be.
£7,285.71, June 6, 1989 (PTSB)
£5,000, March 30, 1990 cheque (PTSB)
£5,000, April 27, 1991 (PTSB)
£5,000 February 24, 1992 cheque (PTSB)
£20,000, August 25, 1992 cheque (PTSB)
£5,000, January 26, 1993 cheque (PTSB)
£5,000, January 26, 1993 cheque (PTSB)
£20,000, October 26, 1994
£10,000, July 18, 1995
Now think of this.
In the early 1990s it was common practice for Frank Dunlop to pay retainers to politicians. These retainers sometimes consisted of £5,000. Once zoning was given by the council, politicians were then given “success fees”. These were larger than the retainers and were a reward for the successful zoning. The retainers were kept by politicians whether the zoning was successful or not.
After Dunlop had his day of clarity and began admitting giving bribes, he went back through his diary and scribbled out stuff. The tribunal refers to it as “obliteration”. We still don’t know quite why he did it, but thanks to the FBI, the Tribunal were able to unobliterate his diary entries.
Here is an example of a Dunlop diary entry he obliterated (Square brackets are me):
February 1, 1991
9 o’clock, John, Ken/Kevin, Paul
£75,000 “clause” or “close”
£50,000 development/build
£5,000 if nothing happens
Or this:
October 9, 1991, [RE CityWest]
8.30 Davys DS [David Shubotham]
BH [Brendan Hickey]
LL [Liam Lawlor]
Renew lands
Agreed schedule of payments with DS
£5,000 down
£20k following, £10k before Christmas
Oh yes, Shubotham. Remember he was involved in the Greencore share scam in 1993 when Ahern was selling of the State’s stake? The Davy guys sold the shares to themselves. Smart men.
Hence the interest in B/T. The amounts are curious. The name is curious. PTSB staff said it was Bertie/Tim. Tim Collins controlled the account. Bertie Ahern was on paper unconnected from the money. If I were a Tribunal, or any form of investigator, I too would be interested.
Oh and what was that cheque from January 1993? A cheque from Davy.