- Bertie Ahern has resigned from Fianna Fáil.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has jumped from Fianna Fáil before being pushed, this as the scandal surrounding a report into his finances intensifies.
Mr. Ahern announced his resignation from Fianna Fáil last Saturday, just days before he was expected to face official expulsion from the party over the outcome of the Mahon Tribunal into suspicious financial dealings.
In revelations which have been devastating for the political reputation of the once-popular politician, the Tribunal last week ruled that Ahern had lied about payments received while in office.
It was the Mahon Tribunal which prompted Ahern to resign as taoiseach back in 2008, and the latest findings have proved too much for his former party to stomach.
Leader Micheál Martin has now referred the entire report back to FF's internal rules and procedures committee, to see if other members accused of less serious matters by the findings, could also face the axe. It is understood up to three party members are in the line of fire.
So far, the Mahon fallout has also claimed the scalp of former EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn, who also resigned from FF before he could be expelled over receiving a payment of 50,000 punts from a developer in 1989, and a Dublin City Councilor, John Hannon.
Meanwhile, despite the findings, a defiant Mr, Ahern is insisting he has done nothing wrong, and described his resignation from Fianna Fail as a "political" move.
"I have decided that the best way I can now serve Fianna Fáil is to tender my resignation as a member of the party," he wrote in a Sunday Newspaper last weekend.
"At the outset I want to make it clear I have done nothing wrong or dishonest. I believe a grave injustice has been done to me."
The Irish Independent reported Tuesday that Ahern made €30,000 for a speech at an economic forum in Nigeria just days after the Mahon Tribunal rejected his evidence about money in his accounts as being "untruthful."
"Mr. Ahern flew to the African nation, notorious for political corruption, on Sunday after announcing that he was resigning from Fianna Fáil in advance of a motion to expel him," the report stated.
