The Workers’ Party have said that extent of the corruption and collusion exposed by the Mahon Tribunal was shocking in the extreme and deserved more than ritual condemnation.  This permeated Irish political life at the highest levels and clearly included Cabinet Ministers, TDs, councillors, council officials and even some members of the Gardaí.

Workers Party President Michael Finnegan said that the tribunal had uncovered the vile stench of greed that was at the heart public life in this country.  He said that the findings had vindicated the late Workers’ Party President Tomás Mac Giolla and others who had tried to raise questions of corruption in planning and rezoning up to 30 years ago only to be attacked and vilified by some of those who had now been so publicly damned.

Mr. Finnegan said it would be a mistake to simply view the events which led to the setting up of the Tribunal as mere historical events.   Similar greed and arrogance had led to this country’s massive economic collapse within the last few years, he said.

“It is not so long ago since a senior government tried to lay the blame for the current recession on  the people of Ireland as a whole.  We were smugly told that ‘we all partied’.  The Mahon Tribunal has now starkly revealed the extent to which a small but vastly powerful élite, a Golden Circle had done a lot of partying and had funded their partying on corruption, graft and deceit”, said Mr. Finnegan 

It is truly a pity that the Tribunal has taken so long, and cost so much, before the final report was published. These factors have inadvertently taken some of the spotlight away from its devastating findings.

"It is appalling that the Tribunal was unable to verify the source of €165,000 that was lodged to accounts under the control of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern because of what the Tribunal describes as his "untruthful" evidence. We must ask why this man will be in receipt of a massive state pension for the rest of his life and remain a member of the Council of State when he has so blatantly refused to be truthful, and honestly cooperate with, a properly constituted judicial inquiry?"

"The Workers Party strongly supports the decision that the report of the Tribunal be referred to the Garda Fraud Squad, the Revenue Commissioners, and to the Criminal Assets Bureau. We sincerely hope that they will act expeditiously and without fear or favour.   It is not enough that these awful happenings have been exposed but justice must now be done and seen to be done”, said Mr. Finnegan.

Issued Thursday, 22nd March 2012