 |
Celia Larkin, also known as Cecilia Larkin, is a former Irish civil servant and was the partner of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Since 2020 she has worked for Limerick City and County Council as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager.
|
Celia Larkin, also known as Cecilia Larkin, is a former Irish civil servant and was the partner of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Since 2020 she has worked for Limerick City and County Council as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager.
Their relationship ended in April 2003. Ahern is separated, though not divorced, from his wife Miriam. There was some controversy in the media at Ahern's public presentation of his partner. No other European Heads of Government had (at that time) similarly presented their partner at official engagements. Ahern was accused of hypocrisy in being associated with a woman other than his wife while being a practising Massgoer. The media discovered the couple had broken up when Larkin failed to co-host a diplomatic dinner for the visiting German Bundespräsident, although her name, along with that of the Taoiseach, was featured on the invitations. [1]
Larkin, during the period of her relationship with Ahern, regularly acted as his consort. She also occasionally engaged in civic functions in a private capacity. For example, she launched a high speed ferry, the M.V. Jonathan Swift for Irish Ferries.
On 2 February 2008, it emerged at the Mahon Tribunal that a house was bought by Larkin in 1993, with money donated to Ahern's constituency organisation in Drumcondra. [2] There was no documentation to back up this loan to Larkin or to prove around IR£30,000 in other expenditure from this account. Dublin businessman Tim Collins, has denied that Ahern was joint holder of the so-called BT account from which Larkin was loaned IR£30,000 without documentation to describe the loan agreement. [3] Tim Collins denied that the BT account referred to Bertie and Tim, even though he operated a joint account with Des Richardson known as the DT account. [4]
Since parting with Ahern, she has expanded her chain of beauty salons, and has appeared on reality television, in an RTÉ show The Restaurant ,.
In July 2005, Larkin was appointed to the board of the new National Consumer Agency, a government funded consumer watchdog. [5]
As a mature student Larkin has graduated from the University of Limerick with a first class honors degree in Politics and International relations, graduating top of her class. She completed a post graduate course in University College London.
In 2016 she began worked for Thames Water in their HQ at Reading as External Affairs Manager. Now known as Cecilia Larkin, in 2020 she was appointed by Limerick City and County Council as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager. [6]
Events from the year 1997 in Ireland.
Events from the year 2005 in Ireland.
Bull Island was an Irish television and radio satirical comedy show broadcast on RTÉ One and later on RTÉ Radio 1 from 1999 until 2001.
Tony Kett was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and member of Seanad Éireann. In 1997, he was elected to the 21st Seanad by the Administrative Panel. He was elected again in 2002 and in 2007.
Cyprian Brady is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 2007 to 2011. Brady is a former civil servant who for 20 years, ran the constituency office of the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Fiona O'Malley is an Irish former politician who served as a Senator from 2007 to 2011, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 2002 to 2007.
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste and Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht from November 1994 to December 1994, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Industry and Commerce in January 1993, Minister for Finance from 1991 to 1994, Minister for Labour from 1987 to 1991, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Defence from March 1982 to December 1982 and Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1986 to 1987. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011.
The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of corrupt payments to politicians regarding political decisions. It mostly investigated planning permissions and land rezoning issues in the 1990s in the Dublin County Council area. Judge Alan Mahon was the final chair of the tribunal and its other members were Judge Mary Faherty and Judge Gerald Keys. The original chairman, who was the sole member until just before his retirement, was Judge Feargus Flood, giving rise to the original common name of the Flood Tribunal.
The 30th Dáil was elected at the 2007 general election on 24 May 2007 and met on 14 June 2007. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. The 30th Dáil lasted 1,329 days, and saw a change of Taoiseach from Bertie Ahern to Brian Cowen. The 30th Dáil was dissolved by President Mary McAleese on 1 February 2011, at the request of the Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
West Limerick 102 is a community radio station broadcasting to the western parts of County Limerick in Ireland. The station operates on a non-commercial basis and has a five year licence issued by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station went on air in May, 2005 and was officially opened by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in April 2006.
Eoghan Harris is an Irish journalist, columnist, director, and former politician. He has held posts in various and diverse political parties. He was a leading theoretician in the Marxist-Leninist Workers' Party. Harris was a fierce critic of Provisional Sinn Féin, from which they had split, and became an opponent of Irish republicanism. For much of the Troubles, from the 1970s until the 1990s, Harris worked in Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and was influential in shaping the current affairs output of Ireland's national broadcaster. Later he began writing for the Sunday Independent newspaper.
Mary Fitzpatrick is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
Events from the year 2008 in Ireland.
There is a historical and current bilateral relationship between Ireland and South Africa. Both countries have established embassies in the territory of the other, in Dublin and Pretoria.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) was an Irish LGBT rights group based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1988 by Don Donnelly, Charles Kerrigan, Suzy Byrne, Kieran Rose and Christopher Robson. It focused on achieving change in legislation and social policy to achieve full equality and inclusion for lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Ireland, and protection from all forms of discrimination. Its board of directors were Margot Slattery (chair), Simon Nugent, Muriel Walls, Séamus Dooley and Dr. Fergus Ryan. In May 2017 it was announced that it would close.
Bertie is a four-part miniseries documenting the life of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, which began airing on Irish television channel RTÉ One on 3 November 2008. Featuring interviews interwoven with archive footage, the series examined how he led the country and what drove him through his political career.
Joan Collins is an Irish Right to Change politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency since the 2011 general election.
Stadium Ireland was the name of a proposed government built sports stadium in Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland. Its nickname was due to its close association with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The stadium would have served as Ireland's national stadium and would have hosted home games for both the national football team and national rugby union team.
Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Ireland at 77 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Ireland ranked 10th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison, the best score was 90, the worst score was 12, and the average score was 43.
Tom Gilmartin was an Irish businessman, whistleblower and pivotal Mahon Tribunal witness whose testimony concerning planning and political corruption "rocked Ireland". He played a crucial role in ending the political career of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.