Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced Wednesday that he will resign May 6, owing to the pressure of investigations into financial improprieties.
"Never, in all the time I've served in public life," Ahern told reporters, flanked by his senior Cabinet ministers, "have I put my personal interest ahead of the public good. I have never received a corrupt payment and I've never done anything to dishonor any office I have held."
"I know in my heart of hearts," Ahern added, "I've done no wrong and wronged no one."
Ahern, who has been Ireland's leader for 11 years, is credited with steering the country during a period of great prosperity and for helping to broker peace in Northern Ireland. His man-of-the-people public image -- as a beer-drinking, sports watching "just one of the guys" fellow -- has been relatively well received.
Ahern's popularity, however, has not been enough to rescue him from the steady pursuit of Irish financial investigators, who have uncovered a number of secret cash payments dating back to 1994 when Ahern was finance minister. Although Ahern claimed the undocumented deposits were from personal friends, an anti-corruption tribunal is investigating claims that the payments came from businessmen seeking favors. The total of the suspicious payments is €886,830 ($1.39 million) in today's terms, according to the Irish Times.
In an emotional speech, Ahern repeated his claim that the payments were not corrupt and blamed his resignation instead on the toll that months of investigation -- including numerous appearances before the tribunal -- have taken on his administration.
Ahern said he chose the May 6 date for his resignation so that he could still deliver a speech before the US Congress in Washington on April 30, an event he predicted would be "one of the proudest moments of my political career."
jtw/ap/reuters
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