Ireland's Prime Minister to Step Down Amid Official Probe of Personal Finances

LONDON, April 2 -- Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland but was dogged by investigations into his personal finances, said Wednesday that he would resign next month after almost 11 years in office.

Ahern, 56, announced his resignation at a Dublin news conference as a government tribunal continues to investigate whether he received improper cash payments from businessmen in the mid-1990s.

In a sometimes emotional 11-minute address, Ahern denied wrongdoing. But he said the "incessant" focus on his finances had been a drain on his administration, adding that the government must "not be constantly deflected by the minutiae of my life, my lifestyle and my finances."

"I have never received a corrupt payment, and I've never done anything to dishonor any office I have held," Ahern said. "I know in my heart of hearts I've done no wrong and wronged no one."

The second-longest-serving prime minister in Irish history, Ahern took office in June 1997 during a period of breathtaking economic growth in Ireland.

With his boxer's build and gregarious personality, he built his political career on being a popular and plainspoken "man of the people."

"He has an affectionate following among the voters, who put him in office three times," said Irish author and historian Tim Pat Coogan. Ahern remained popular, Coogan noted, despite growing pressure from opposition politicians and members of his own coalition government.

Beyond cultivating his modest Everyman image, Ahern has proved a shrewd political operator. He was often called the "Teflon taoiseach," the Gaelic word for prime minister.

Under his watch, Ireland built hundreds of thousands of new homes and businesses and became awash with millionaires and even billionaires as the "Celtic Tiger" economy boomed. By 2006, the nation's population had topped 4 million for the first time since the mid-19th century. Immigrants from Eastern Europe, Africa and China have been drawn to the flourishing economy, and many Irish who had left their once-impoverished land returned.

Working closely with Tony Blair, then Britain's prime minister, Ahern brought Northern Ireland's Catholic and Protestant leaders together to sign the landmark 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

"The priority I put above all others was to work for peace on this island, and I have given all to that cause," Ahern said Wednesday as he announced his intention to step down May 6. He was flanked by top aides from his party, Fianna Fail.

"He will have, deservedly, a central place in his nation's political history and much more widely" as well, Blair said Wednesday, calling Ahern "a remarkable man with a remarkable record of achievement."