36 Facts About Bertiegate

1.

Bertiegate's mother came from a farming background and was from near Castledonovan, west County Cork.

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2.

Bertiegate was a supporter of Eamon de Valera and the Anti-Treaty IRA.

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3.

Bertiegate was a member of the 3rd Cork Brigade of the IRA.

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4.

Bertiegate remained a militant Irish Republican for decades after the War of Independence.

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5.

Bertiegate received his third level education at the College of Commerce, Rathmines, part of the Dublin Institute of Technology.

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6.

Bertiegate subsequently worked in the Accounts Department of the Mater Hospital, Dublin.

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7.

Bertiegate is a supporter of Dublin GAA and attends Dublin matches in Croke Park.

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8.

Bertiegate appeared as a pundit on RTE Two's The Premiership programme in 2001.

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9.

Bertiegate was elected to Dublin Corporation at the 1979 local elections for the Cabra East–Finglas West local electoral area.

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10.

Bertiegate later switched to the North Inner City LEA before standing down before the 1991 local elections.

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11.

Bertiegate was apprehensive, and remained out of the contest, allowing Reynolds to become party leader and Taoiseach.

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12.

Bertiegate is under scrutiny from the Mahon Tribunal for this cash payment and subsequent revelations in May 2007, of cash received from businessman Micheal Wall.

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13.

Bertiegate was criticised in the foreign press as well as in the Irish media.

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14.

Bertiegate stated this would mean standing down as Taoiseach before the end of the Dail term, which would have ended in 2012 at the latest.

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15.

Bertiegate is the sixth person who has addressed both the UK Parliament and the United States Congress.

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16.

Bertiegate said that one of the first things that Brian Cowen had done when he became Minister for Finance was to abolish many of the property tax incentives.

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17.

Bertiegate presided over many of the incentives that benefited property developers.

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18.

Bertiegate said that he had attempted to repay it, but that his friends would not accept repayment.

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19.

Bertiegate claimed that he had "broken no codes – ethical, tax, legal or otherwise".

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20.

Bertiegate stated that this money was again unsolicited, that it was a gift and therefore not subject to tax as it had been received when abroad, and that it was paid to him after he gave an after-dinner speech at an ad hoc function.

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21.

Bertiegate claimed that the money was given to him as a private citizen, not to him in his then role as Minister for Finance, and that no other payments were received by him after speaking at other similar functions.

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22.

Bertiegate claimed this was money he had saved over a substantial period of time when he had had no active bank account.

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23.

Bertiegate was asked by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte whether, in the absence of a bank account, he had kept the money in a "sock in the hot-press" and Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins asked if he had kept the money "in a shoe-box".

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24.

Bertiegate was, at the time, the only member of the Oireachtas not to have a tax clearance certificate On 14 January 2008, while on a visit to South Africa, Ahern accused Enda Kenny, Leader of the Opposition of tellinga "bare-faced lie" about Ahern's tax situation.

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25.

Bertiegate was commenting on reports that Ahern had claimed €265,000 for "secretarial services" and €7,500 on mobile phone bills since he stepped down in May 2008.

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26.

Bertiegate had no social or economic vision for the state he led.

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27.

Bertiegate was appointed Chairman of the International Forestry Fund on 1 January 2010.

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28.

Bertiegate wrote a sports column in the now-closed Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday newspaper News of the World.

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29.

Bertiegate is registered with the Washington Speakers Bureau which charged $40,000 per speech—and he gave 16 speeches in 2009.

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30.

Bertiegate enjoyed in that period, a €92,672 TD's salary and expenses.

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31.

Bertiegate is a supporter of Dublin GAA and attends inter-county matches in Croke Park.

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32.

Bertiegate appeared as a pundit on RTE Two's The Premiership programme in 2001.

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33.

Bertiegate attends Mass every Saturday evening in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin.

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34.

Bertiegate recalled how Paisley began a prayer in the Irish Embassy and he joined in with him.

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35.

Bertiegate said the prayer was "like our Confiteor" and officials had wondered why they had spent so much time alone.

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36.

Bertiegate's government came under severe criticism for the deal they made with the religious orders, capping their contribution to the redress board at €128 million while taxpayers will have to pay out €1 billion.

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