'No mystery in Reynolds trip'
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A SPECIAL advisor to Albert Reynolds last night denied there was any mystery surrounding a visit the former Taoiseach made in the Bahamas more than 13 years ago.
It follows claims by the head of the Air Corps that Mr Reynolds ordered the government jet to make an unscheduled flight from Nassau to Freeport in the Bahamas following a fundraising trip to the US in 1994.
Brigadier General Ralph James told the Mahon tribunal that the flight schedule had been altered to include the Freeport visit at the then Taoiseach's request.
But Dail TD Martin Mansergh who was part of the Reynold's delegation to the US and who was a former special advisor on Northern Ireland insisted that Mr Reynolds had made a full official visit to the Bahamas where talks were held with government officials and that there was no mystery about the visit.
"An official report of the talks in the bahamas was drawn up and is on file. There is no mystery about the visit," he said in a statement.
In a comment last night Mr Reynolds said he "fully endorses" Dr Mansergh's statement.
The brigadier told the planning tribunal that the Reynolds delegation travelled to the US on a 10-day visit and a number of stops had been scheduled for the government jet.
On March 20, the jet made a scheduled flight from Hartford to Nassau international airport in the Bahamas. The following day there was a change in the schedule and an additional flight was made to Freeport which is on another island.
Brigadier General James said that passenger lists were prepared for every journey. The day before the jet and its passengers was due to return to Ireland, a change was requested by the Taoiseach.
- Lorna Reid and Fergus Black
