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A PROFILE WHICH is full of praise for former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is still live on the Fianna Fáil website despite its former leader having resigned from the party in the wake of the Planning Tribunal findings.
The profile, which appears under the section entitled ‘Fianna Fáil Taoisigh’, makes no mention of the fact that Ahern resigned from the party after the Mahon Tribunal into planning irregularities found that he had lied to the tribunal in his evidence.
Ahern resigned from Fianna Fáil in March following the findings of the Mahon Tribunal and just days before it was expected that he would be expelled from it four years after he finished his 14 years as leader and 11 years as taoiseach.
The profile on the website notes that as Minister for Labour in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Ahern established “his reputation as a peacemaker in industrial relations and as a consensus politician”.
Further down the profile says that under Ahern’s leadership “the Celtic Tiger came to fruition, a rapid and sustained period of economic growth with the best growth rates in the European Union, low inflation, low interest rates, record employment and inward investment”.
The profile says that it was “no surprise” that Fianna Fáil returned to government under Ahern’s leadership at the 2002 general election and goes on to describe his “finest achievement” in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement.
Though he was in office until 2008, the profile does not go beyond 2004 in listing Ahern’s achievements instead focusing on that year as the one Ireland held the EU presidency, a “major success” in which Ahern and his government oversaw the accession of ten new member states, the profile states.
A party source told TheJournal.ie that the profile is a “historical piece” on the Fianna Fáil website and it is unlikely to be updated despite the revelations from the Mahon Tribunal report.
However despite his Fianna Fáil profile remaining intact, Ahern’s website, The Office of Bertie Ahern, is no longer in existence it would appear.
The website - www.bertieahernoffice.org - listed details including a contact address for the Ahern when he was based in St Luke’s in Drumcondra, north Dublin
The former constituency office, which became his power base during his time in government, was taken back by the party following the Mahon Tribunal findings and Ahern has since reportedly moved into a new office in the Drumcondra Business Centre.
A similar piece for former taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey also makes no reference to his involvement in the Arms Crisis in the 1970s nor the revelations that emerged from the McCracken and Moriarty Tribunals in the late 1990s.
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Of course it has a positive profile up. FF are well aware that peoples memories are short, and that in ten or fifteen years they’ll be able to trot out his memory saying that under Bertie everything was great.
Typical politicians putting their own positive history but if did enough damage economicly that people won’t forget Bertie and the boys for a long time. I won’t.
Those who control the past control the future, those who control the present control the past.
Most of you have voted for Fianna Fail.
And they have done you no favours in the long term.
Why don’t people demand for Bertie’s profile to be updated.
These politicians live a perpetual lie.
Irish politics are by european standards more than murky.
He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy….
He will always be a smug,, lying ,,, git
From a party full to bursting of smug, lying gits.
Which is why they love Bertie as much as Bertie loves brown envelopes.
The bas*ard should be in jail for fraud and treason.
Like many other Irish websites, rarely updated, I suppose.
Rarely viewed hopefully…..
Hysterically historical and amusing ineptness on the part of a political organisation in perfect free fall !
In not getting around to updating their website, is no excuse here, as their leader Martin, has been promising renewal and cleaning up of FF – they cannot rewrite historical fact though , where corruption is concerned.
I don’t agree that this is a slow news story – its yet another true reflection of good investigative reporting and a further nail in FF’s coffin.
You must be easily impressed if looking up http://www.fiannafail.ie is investigative jounalism to you. Personally I think investigative journalism would be more if the journal.ie went into deep undercover in FF HQ to discover that FF have an evil plan to make Bertie the High King of Ireland. . . . Sh**e I just revealed our evil plan!
Dammit, Seán – why did you reveal our plan? I hope you didn’t tell them the part about making Seánaí Fitz and Eugene Sheehy his Finance Ministers…
Is anyone surprised FF omitted large sections of Bertie’s story? Have you all heard there ‘apology’ for the economic mess they helped create? They said ‘mistakes were made,’ but refuse ‘get bogged down in the politics of the past by going into the specifics.’ They are pure poison. Self serving sociopathic politicians. Ireland deserves better.
Just ruined my breakfast seeing that smug pr¥¥ks face !
Slow news day for the journal!!
Agree. Slow news day. Trying to stir things up that’s all. Pointless article.
It is a Bank Holiday Monday in the middle of ‘Silly Season’ so there ain’t much actual political news to report. Although would agree that it is a bit of a non-story…Do we really expect FF, or anybody else for that matter, to highlight their own glaring faults? Anyone with any brains (who didn’t know who Bertie is) would just have to Google him and they’d find lots of stuff.
So colm what would you do give him a saint hood ,,,
Do ya know where the 5 Lamps are Bertie?
Is Fianna Fail lying when they omit telling the whole truth?
They’re like the catholic church. Very well versed in lies of omission.
The Irish political system is a joke !!!!
Power, jobs and money for friends and family. The nepotism is endemic since the formation of the state. The citizens of this country deserve everything they get. When so called politicians continue to have on the job training how can we expect anything different. How many politicians in the dail have actually studied political science and have a degree ? Very Very few. For any other position one will not get the job without proper qualifications. If nothing changes, nothing changes. When the Irish people get enough pain from the existing system, and there’s plenty coming down the track they may take a look at the banana republic they have and do something to save it from the incompetence which continues to drive it into the ground. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE!!!
So the silly season begins……
Still, surprised it’s still up.
Methinks this comment thread will become an anti-Bertie rant fest.
forget the past and concentrate on the present ,
As the FG mantra goes ” sure if we feck it up we can still just blame the last shower”
Ah but sure yiz all voted for him
FOR GOD SAKE, TAKE IT DOWN FROM THE MAST IRISH TRAITOR
He was a FF Taoiseach and it’s in the sites’ history section. Surely it would be more dishonest to take it down and try to sweep the Bertie times under the proverbial rug?
Interesting logic Sean, So less dishonest is better than more dishonest? Here’s one for ya. Why not try honest? Oh hang on we’re talking FF here……..
Ok so , leave it up BUT tell the TRUTH.. The man is a Traitor ,a liar, a swindler ,a corrupt person, let the wbsite reflect this . Say that he was thrown out of the party after the findings of the Mahon Tribunal came to light. Grrr I really cannot stand the double/ treble/ quadruple standards of Fianna Fail-ures .
Surely Portraits of proven corrupt Taoisigh should be kept in a separate dark section of the Dail – Haughey & Ahern, probably DeValera having ‘acquired’ the Irish Press Group – all FF ! Will I go on?
Interesting to see the ‘Die Hard’ FF Bloggers coming to Bertie and FF’s defense – the defense of the indefensible !!!!!
Of course Bertie Ahern is still on FF’s website after all he is what FF is and was always about. Ahern is a mirror image of FF and his image should be a constant reminder of that fact. He is not the only leader of FF who helped to destroy this country.
Agreed sure look who was his finance minister
along with Martin O,Dea were all there as well,
A peace maker in industrial relations – ” So, bearded men. How much do you want?”.
What a peace maker…
What about the the dail where there is a big portrait of him still there.
Is it possible to hack into that page and put his Allotement hat on ? :)
FF will do anything for power.
People need to recognize there are alternatives like SF or the Socialists. It wasn’t populist opinion that destroyed Ireland – it was corruption under FF and FG.
“People need to recognize there are alternatives like SF or the Socialists”
Hahahahahahahahahahaha, haha, ha ……………….. bahahahahahahahahahahaha… excuse me while I go puke in a corner.
Now that’s a Real Criminal.
He inherited his greed from Haughey and destroyed any independence we had!
And we still pay him out of Taxpayers money.
Ireland , they only country where it is okay to be a lawmaker and lawbreaker!
Generations of Irish people will suffer thanks to your incompetent leadership bertie!
Just like all the bankers, and businessmen who ran this country into the ground, the politicians, especially FF, are in denial about their part in the catastrophe.
Really superficial, shallow article that’s just a cheap shot at FF with no substance whatsoever but will give the usual commentariat on here to do their “FF rooooned the country then they ruined Spain & Portugal & Greece” stuff…
Ah… Written by Hugh O’Connell… Don’t mind so… That’s pretty much his job at thejournal.ie…
Paul – you are a moral disgrace.
FF was leading the country and was blind to their policies and wild spending whilst they egged on the banks to keep lending then they denied there was a problem.every leader they ever had was corrupt and they still deny everything tut tut tut
One sentence about Mr. McGuinness’ involvement in the IRA. No mention of the innocent deaths caused by said organisation when he was a member in Derry. Practice what you preach people!
Bertie Ahern is a disgrace and should be in jail. Do you disagree?
I dont deny that. But enough of one rule for one group and another for everyone else…
One sentence about Mr. McGuinness’ involvement in the IRA. No mention of the innocent deaths caused by said organisation when he was a member in Derry. Practice what you preach people!
thiks somebody read that story about bertie being on linkdin
have your say