A Lord Lucan move

One reason for concern about Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's claim that no one at a Manchester event 12 years ago was interested in his capacity as then Minister for Finance is that the transaction -- a suspiciously large payment for a very simple speaking event -- on its face resembles an old Liam Lawlor trick, in which publicly available information was stapled together and presented for payment under a "consulting" contract, the remuneration in fact being a bribe.