Why no bank account from 1986 to 1993?

In the Dáil on 27 September 2006, Bertie said: “I was involved in [marriage] separation proceedings at the beginning of 1987 and they did not conclude until the end of 1993 in the High Court. Over that period my wife and I had joint [bank] accounts in our names. For obvious reasons, I did not use our joint account. I used cheques separately to deal with issues, and I did not open an account in my own name until afterwards.”

In the course of this period he “saved” £50,000 which, he told Village in March 2007, he retained in a safe in his office at St Luke's, Drumcondra.

The question arises – why did he not open a bank account in his own name during this period, into which he could have lodged his salary cheque during this time and maintained his savings?

While all matters to do with the family courts and family law are private, a separate series of questions arise:

In the affidavit-of-means which he much have sworn during the course of the marriage separation proceedings, which, obviously, were contentious since they ended up in the High Court, did he own up to the savings he was retaining during this time?

If he did own up, the question of why he did not operate a bank account personally during this period is even more mysterious. If he did not own up to these savings and hid them from his wife and the courts, did he falsely swear an affidavit-of-means?

More: Read the House of the Rising Sum, the cover story for the May issue of Village by Vincent Browne and Emma Browne