Bertie's €65,000 farewell
Former Taoiseach racked up massive bill on US 'last hurrah'
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Monday December 14 2009
FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's visit to Washington in 2008 to address the Joint Houses of Congress cost taxpayers more than €65,000.
The huge cost of the trip -- dubbed Mr Ahern's "last hurrah" before he resigned from office -- is revealed in documents obtained by the Irish Independent.
No expense was spared, with Mr Ahern staying two nights in the €2,250-a-night presidential suite of the luxurious Mayflower Hotel.
Limousine hire for Mr Ahern cost €16,650, including a tip of €2,500, during the two days spent in Washington, while a further €5,500 was spent on chauffeured transport for his official entourage.
Another €8,700, including €1,100 in gratuities, was spent chauffeuring the group in Boston the day after Mr Ahern's historic address.
Other bills racked up on the visit included over €3,000 on official photography, €1,600 for photocopying the former Taoiseach's speech and €11 for a pay-per-view movie charged to Mr Ahern's room.
Mr Ahern also claimed a €410 subsistence payment for the visit. The address to Congress came on April 30, a week before he resigned.
Entourage
He was accompanied in Washington by no less than nine officials and advisers, as well as a security detail.
Then-foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern and Transport Minister Noel Dempsey also attended the event.
The former Taoiseach said last night he had "no comment" to make on the massive costs of the Washington visit or any of his foreign travel expenses.
The Washington visit was not the first time Mr Ahern exhibited a taste for expensive hotels.
Just two months earlier, Mr Ahern also stayed in the Mayflower's presidential suite during a St Patrick's Day visit. His room bill from that two-day stay was €4,700, while the overall bill for the visit came to a total of €17,200.
When Mr Ahern stayed in the Conrad Hotel in Brussels for an EU council meeting in March last year, his room cost €1,750 per night. He stayed in the same hotel, at the same rate, the previous December as well.
In stark contrast, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has opted to stay in more affordable hotels on his official visits to Washington and Brussels.
His room at the St Regis hotel in Washington, where he stayed on St Patrick's Day this year, cost €620 per night.
Mr Cowen has avoided staying overnight in Brussels since becoming Taoiseach, preferring to return to Dublin on the same day.
Other questionable expenses run up in the dying days of Mr Ahern's tenure included a €4,500 chauffeur bill from a visit to Manchester in February last year.
Mr Ahern met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the Old Trafford boardroom for 45 minutes before attending a soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
Chauffeur
For the visit, a luxury car was sent from London to collect the then ambassador to Britain, David Cooney, in Newcastle. The car was then driven to Manchester to meet Mr Ahern.
Mr Ahern spent just six hours in Manchester before returning home on the government jet. The car was then returned to London with the ambassador.
A people carrier was also sent from London to chauffeur Mr Ahern's entourage.
Both vehicles were rented from the company run by Terry Gallagher, the son of the former Fianna Fail gaeltacht minister Denis Gallagher.
A meeting in Paris between Mr Ahern and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September 2007 also coincided with a major sporting event -- a Rugby World Cup match between France and Ireland.
The meeting was quite brief, lasting 20 minutes before a break for lunch and then a photocall on the steps of the Elysee Palace.
When questioned about the meeting by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Mr Ahern explained that he and Mr Sarkozy "discussed a wide range of issues on the European agenda, including the Reform Treaty, agriculture, the EU budget review, the Doha round of the World Trade negotiations and international financial issues".
Mr Ahern and Mr Sarkozy attended the match together later that evening.
The former Taoiseach's hotel bill for his two-night stay in Paris came to €1,600, while his chauffeur hire bill totalled almost €3,400.
He also ran up a €430 restaurant bill. A further €6,500 was spent on accommodation and restaurant costs for Mr Ahern's official entourage.
- Shane Phelan
Irish Independent
