Ray burke where is he now

He would rub your nose in it where other politicians would pay tribute to the valiant efforts made by all and wish everyone well.

He was not a man to easily admit error or misjudgement; his confidence coupled with his graft and political nous made him a formidable politician. He backed George Colley during the heave against Charles Haughey but Haughey still admired him enough to promote him through a series of ministries. No matter that his political life was dogged by innuendo: a garda investigation into a?

His name continued to be whispered in private in connection with dodgy rezoning and developments in his constituency. Many of his political colleagues were privy to the rumours. Albert Reynolds, the former Taoiseach, later claimed that he didn't appoint Mr Burke to his Cabinet because of them. Mr Ahern later claimed to have gone "up every tree in north Dublin" to substantiate the rumours and had even checked with the then Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne, but at that time they remained unsubstantiated.

It was his work on the Northern Ireland peace process while in opposition that swung Mr Burke the plum post. Few will forget Ray Burke's arrogance during the fateful Summer of Burke waited weeks before responding. When he did on August 7, he admitted that, yes, he got an unsolicited donation of? He had did nothing in return for it. Indeed, I find myself the victim of a campaign of calumny and abuse," he declared.

Opposition parties bayed for more. On September 10, Burke gave a lengthier statement to the Dail. He gave? Elections were expensive things. And as if to prove his straitened finances, he disclosed that he took out a?

As for an off-shore bank account, he didn't have one. He famously drew a line in the sand, putting himself on one side and the rumours of corruption on the other. But the dripfeed of allegation forced his inevitable resignation as Minister for Foreign Affairs in October Mr Ahern blamed everyone but Mr Burke: "I believe he resigned both as the strongest protest that he could make at the shameful treatment to which he has been subjected by certain parties in this House and by certain sections of the media who cynically regard politics as a blood sport.

In his report in September , Judge Feargus Flood unequivocally declared the former Foreign Affairs Minister corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. No evidence was found that any money changed hands for the house, although Mr Burke maintains that he paid? Nor was the payment of? The builders, Brennan and McGowan had forked out huge amounts, including sums of?

He concealed the money in five offshore bank accounts, some in bogus names, dipping in and out of funds in breach of exchange controls. In total, more than? At the Flood planning tribunal he described some of the funds he received from his bewildering array of benefactors as "walking around money''. But sadly times have changed. If he spotted my thirst as I stood on the kerb outside his home this week, Burke was in no mood to quench it. Some depictions of Burke portray him as a gaunt figure, a stooped shadow of his former self, but there was little sign of that when I came across him this week.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7. Enter email address This field is required Sign Up. He stepped gingerly from his reg car, the same vehicle that he had a decade ago. He has actually aged little since his star turns at the Flood Tribunal. He was unwilling to talk, but friendly enough.

I don't do media at all. I never give interviews. It's nothing personal. It's a far cry from the days when Burke could be a pugnacious, irascible and occasionally witty public presence. But this week, when I encountered him, there was not even one of these choice expletives to remind me of the good old days. I tried to steal a glance inside his living room. There was no sign of the famous sideboard where he stored the brown envelopes when he was in his pomp back in the s.

Burke's living quarters just around the corner from his former boss Bertie Ahern at Griffith Downs are a good deal more modest than Briargate, his executive mansion in Swords and scene of the famous tea and biscuits episode that brought high comedy to the tribunal. He could be charming and witty when he chose to, even if the threat of verbal violence always loomed. Ironic, then, that this calling left him with so few friends in Leinster House, something that was painfully evident after he resigned.

For all his energy, it was hard to tie down his political beliefs, beyond the naked goal of personal advancement. He was for nuclear power in the s; against Sellafield in the s. Something else Ray Burke had his father to thank for was the site for Briargate, his former house in Swords. One of the oldest rumours about the family told how Paddy Burke acquired the land from an inmate of Portrane mental hospital, where he worked as a nurse until the mids.

The rumour might have been somewhat garbled, but Burke was being economical with the truth with his fellow TDs.

As the planning tribunal later established, the land had indeed been owned by a psychiatric patient and ward of court. The builders owned land near Dublin airport which had been rezoned thanks to the efforts of both Burkes on Dublin County Council. The builders said the money was commission due to Burke for selling houses. The accountant said it was a typing error. The journalist who wrote the story emigrated.

The controversy went away. Brennan and McGowan stayed, however, and redoubled their generosity. That was only the start of it.

The money was real alright, but the horsey stories were just a cod. Burke used the money to build a formidable election machine in north Dublin, where he topped the poll in 12 elections. While his henchmen looked after constituency business, the ambitious new minister was left free to buy drinks and kiss babies. Stories abound about his quick temper. When he was minister for environment during the Dublin West by-election in , he arranged for the planting of young trees in a new housing estate.

As chairman from , he ran the council with an iron fist, with councillor Pat Dunne, now deceased, whipping party colleagues into line on a series of controversial rezoning motions. Burke dismissed Geraghty, who walked down the corridor.