Nothing Bert de Truth

Bertie AhernDISGRACED ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has been offered a free LIE DETECTOR test to prove his innocence after the Mahon Tribunal revelations.

The SunThe Irish Sun has teamed up with truth-telling company Lie Detector Limited in the hope we can grill the brazen former Fianna Fail leader, 60, over his lies. And as an added bonus, we are offering YOU the reader the chance to come up with the questions for our probe. The Dun Laoghaire-based company said a simple polygraph test could tell once and for all if Bertie is innocent as he claims.

Director Peter Kerrigan said: “If these devices had been used in the first place during the Tribunal then the taxpayer would have saved millions of euro “They are used all over the world in courts and by police forces. “Polygraph testing basically confirms if someone is telling a lie or not. It is well proven when dealing with money issues. “There have been lots of cases where people have sworn blind that they did not take money. “They then failed a test and immediately confessed. It is very clear-cut. We’d like to offer Mr Ahern the chance to prove his innocence with a polygraph test. “We’d also invite Irish Sun readers to think up the relevant questions they could put to Bertie.”

The polygraph machines have a success rate of 98 PER CENT and are regularly used in US courts. A lie detector test taken by the Irish Sun confirmed that the devices do work. Last week the Mahon Tribunal, under Judge Alan Mahon, found Ahern had been untruthful about his finances. He could face a long stretch in jail if charged and convicted of perjury or corruption. The punishment for lying under oath in a judicial setting is up to SEVEN years. The head of the Criminal Assets Bureau has been ordered to investigate Mahon’s findings of widespread corruption in political life. Chief Supt Eugene Corcoran will lead a team of fraud specialists in assessing if criminal charges can be brought. Assets identified as backhanders could also be confiscated as cops retrace the money trail uncovered in the 3,270-page report.

The probe into planning bribery found Ahern, who quit as Government leader in 2008, found he had “failed to truthfully account” for IR£165,214 found in accounts connected with him. Ahern had tried to claim he got the cash from wins on the horses and dig-outs from pals. A poll on thesun.ie last week saw an overwhelming 82 per cent of readers want Bertie jailed. There was no response from a spokesman for Ahern last night.

By MARK MAY Published: 31st March 2012 PDF