TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern personally drove Celia Larkin to the bank to collect a £50,000 "parcel" of cash, it emerged yesterday.

The latest revelation was divulged by the Taoiseach's former partner at the Planning Tribunal as Ms Larkin changed her story again on the controversial transactions involving Mr Ahern's bank accounts in the mid-1990s.

Ms Larkin's evidence will particularly intensify pressure on Mr Ahern to finally clarify his personal finances as he begins his long-anticipated appearance in the witness box today.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that he had to clear up the "fantasy-land situation" where money was "flying around" in bags in hotel bedrooms and constituency offices.

Ms Larkin described Mr Ahern as her "life partner" on several occasions as she gave evidence yesterday.

In feisty exchanges, lawyers at the Mahon Tribunal claimed Ms Larkin had given three different versions of the lodgment of nearly £30,000 in cash from the Taoiseach's close friend, Manchester businessman Michael Wall.

She was also accused of talking "nonsense" and "misleading" the tribunal -- charges she denied.

And she told tribunal lawyer Henry Murphy she couldn't remember some details of the events of the time as her recollection of dates was not good

"I'm sorry, Henry, but I'm not very good on dates. I associate things with events rather than dates," she said.

Ms Larkin admitted for the first time that she was in Mr Ahern's St Luke's office when Mr Wall's bundles of sterling were sitting on the desk.

She said she was surprised to see the cash on the table, even though Mr Wall said the previous day that Mr Ahern was not surprised when he handed him a suitcase stuffed with £30,000 in cash.

On Mr Ahern's request, Ms Larkin collected the sterling in a briefcase from his constituency office and lodged it to an account held in her name.

In her previous interactions with the tribunal, Ms Larkin originally said Mr Wall lodged the money, then she said she collected the money from the office of Mr Ahern's solicitor, the late Gerry Brennan.

She also conceded it was wrong for her to previously tell the tribunal it was "speculation" to say the money was sterling.

She now says there is "no question" the money was anything other than sterling and she knows this because she saw the cash on the desk after Mr Wall handed it over on December 3, 1994 -- the weekend before Mr Ahern was expecting to become Taoiseach.

The money was to renovate a house Mr Wall was buying and that Mr Ahern would rent from him.

Ms Larkin lodged the money to one of three bank accounts she operated on Mr Ahern's behalf around the time.

She revealed how Mr Ahern drove her to the AIB Bank on O'Connell Street to pick up a "bag or parcel" of IR£50,000 from one of the other accounts in January 1995.

Mr Ahern wanted to withdraw the money from the account and Ms Larkin went into the bank to collect the cash from a bank official.

"I got a lift to the bank," she recalled. "My recollection is that Bertie drove the car."

Though out of Government for the previous month, Mr Ahern was leader of Fianna Fail so he would have had an official car and chauffeur at the time.

And it was not clear if he even had a driving licence at the time as he had been a cabinet minister since 1987 so always had a state car and garda driver during this period.

A government spokesman last night declined to comment on whether Mr Ahern had a driving licence at the time.

When asked by Mr Murphy why Mr Ahern didn't collect the money himself, Ms Larkin said the account was in her name.

"I don't see how this changes the essence of events. The money was withdrawn and given back to Mr Ahern," she said.

Ms Larkin said she could not be specific about whether the £50,000 cash she withdrew was in a bag or in a parcel. She carried it out to the car, where Mr Ahern was waiting and they both returned to St Lukes with the money, she said.

According to Ms Larkin: "Bertie dealt in cash. I think he felt more comfortable with it."

Mr Ahern is scheduled for a full two days in the witness box to give his keenly awaited testimony.

The public gallery at the tribunal chamber in Dublin Castle is expected to be packed to capacity for Mr Ahern's appearance.

Ahead of the Taoiseach's evidence today, the Fine Gael leader said he had yet to hear "a credible account" from Mr Ahern about the transactions he was involved in.

"I hope that he leaves no confusion behind him this time as he goes into the tribunal.

"On the previous two occasions when he had the chance to clear this matter up, there was more confusion at the end than the beginning," he said.