MAHON TRIBUNAL:MANCHESTER-BASED businessman Micheál Wall bequeathed the house he owned in Dublin to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and, in the event of his death, to Mr Ahern's daughters, the tribunal heard yesterday.
Mr Wall said he could have left it to “the Sisters of Charity” or his “aunty in Timbuktu”, but he wanted Mr Ahern “to have a roof over his head” and he wanted to protect the then aspiring taoiseach’s daughters.
The will was written in June 1996, the tribunal heard, a year after Mr Wall purchased 44 Beresford Avenue, off Griffith Avenue in Drumcondra, for £138,000.
Mr Wall bought the house after Mr Ahern and his former partner Celia Larkin found it for him. At the time, Mr Ahern was looking for a house to rent in the area and he agreed to rent it from Mr Wall.
Mr Wall intended to stay in the house when he set up a coach hire business in Dublin. However, following a hit-and-run accident in which he was badly injured, he decided not to set up the business.
Mr Wall said he stayed in the house up to 20 times while Mr Ahern was renting it, but could not recall any particular occasion.
He said after he witnessed death he decided to leave the house to Mr Ahern. Mr Ahern had invested in the house, he said, and it suited him.
The late Gerry Brennan, who was solicitor to Mr Ahern as well as to Mr Wall, drafted the will, which dealt solely with Beresford and was a supplement to his existing British will.
“I give, devise and bequeath my property . . . to my good friend Bertie Ahern TD for his own use and benefit absolutely,” the will stated. It stated that if Mr Ahern predeceased Mr Wall, the house would go to “Georgina and Cecelia Ahern in equal shares”. Mr Wall denied the will was Mr Brennan’s idea and said he did not even tell Mr Ahern about it.
Counsel for the tribunal, Henry Murphy SC, said he could not understand why Mr Wall would leave the house to Mr Ahern’s daughters. “I was protecting them . . . I didn’t have to do it, I did it and that’s it,” Mr Wall said.
“I have no further answer on it or explanation whatsoever.”
Mr Murphy said he must have an explanation. “I don’t need it at this stage in my life,” Mr Wall replied. “The tribunal needs it,” Mr Murphy said.
He asked whether Mr Wall wanted to provide for Mr Ahern’s daughters financially, in the event of their father’s death.
“I could give answers that wouldn’t be, mean nothing,” Mr Wall said.
“Do you mean you would be making them up?” Mr Murphy asked.
“Please, I have no further explanation on it,” Mr Wall responded.
Tribunal Judge Gerald Keys said there was an explanation for everything.
“Is it that you have an explanation and you don’t want to tell us?” he asked.
“I have no explanation for it,” Mr Wall said.
The will became defunct in June 1997 when Mr Ahern purchased the house for £180,000, just before he became taoiseach, and shortly after Mr Brennan died. Mr Wall acknowledged that, taking into account the cash he spent, he made a loss on its sale.
The tribunal heard that when his mortgage was cleared, the balance was lodged to an account held by Mr Wall in Bank of Ireland in Galway.
In December 1997, Mr Wall withdrew £50,000 in cash from the account with the intention of going to an auction and buying a crusher.
“What does a crusher do?” Mr Murphy asked.
“It crushes,” Mr Wall explained.
Mr Wall did not make the purchase, he said; he took the cash to Manchester instead, where he put it in his safe and eventually reinvested it in his business.
