X-Nico

13 unusual facts about Bertie Ahern


Celia Holman Lee

In 2007 she topped a list for Social and Personal as the most invited person to parties, taking over from the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Cronyism

Bertie Ahern, former Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach, was mentioned on several occasions to have taken sums of money and kickbacks from property developers during the Celtic Tiger.

Denis Donaldson

A statement by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain, referred to his death as a "barbaric act", while Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern condemned "the brutal murder" of Donaldson.

Free Education for Everyone

A visit by Bertie Ahern to NUI Galway on 2 February 2009 was disrupted by FEE activists, forcing the former Taoiseach to cancel a scheduled lecture on the campus.

Politicians such as the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Ministers Batt O'Keeffe, Éamon Ó Cuív, Brian Lenihan and his brother Conor Lenihan have all been targeted, with NUI Galway and UCD having the most widely reported rate of activism against visiting Ministers.

Irish National War Memorial Gardens

A state commemoration to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 2006, was attended by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Members of the Oireachtas, leading representatives of all political parties in Ireland, the Diplomatic Corps of the Allies of World War I, delegates from Northern Ireland, representatives of the four main Churches, and solemnly accompanied by a Guard of Honour of the Irish Army and Army Band.

Irish property bubble

These reports were met with hostility by the political establishment; on 4 July 2007 Taoiseach Bertie Ahern stated at a conference in Donegal that he did not understand why people sitting on the sidelines, "cribbing and moaning" about the economy, did not commit suicide.

Mary Kingston

For the next five years she has presented The Children of Ireland Awards with the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Media Lab Europe

MLE was created in July 2000 and was initiated by the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Robert MacCarthy

MacCarthy criticised the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for issuing a public invitation to a State reception for Cardinal Desmond Connell in 2001 in the joint names of the Taoiseach and his then mistress, MacCarthy declined to attend and received over 300 letters of support, many from Roman Catholics.

Steward's Lodge

In 2005, a spokeswoman for Bertie Ahern stated he had no interest in using it, and he remained resident in his private home in Drumcondra in Dublin.

The Road to Croker

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern presented one episode during August 2008 when Cahill was attending RTÉ Radio's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights

2003: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, T.D., Prime Minister of Ireland and the Right Honourable Tony Blair


Frank Roy

In 2001 Roy resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Helen Liddell in the wake of the cancellation of a visit to Carfin Grotto by Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Jokela school shooting

Ireland – President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and a number of Irish schoolchildren expressed their condolences to Finnish President Tarja Halonen on November 12 during Halonen's state visit to the country.

Maurice Ahern

He is the elder brother of Bertie Ahern and Noel Ahern, both of whom served as Fianna Fáil TDs, Bertie Ahern having served as Taoiseach from 1997–2008.