OPPOSITION pressure continues to increase on Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern to announce his date of retirement as leader. The latest escalation of a war of words over his personal finances in the early to mid-'90s, when he was finance minister, follows the admission that more than $50,000 was loaned by his local Fianna Fail cumann (branch) to his former girlfriend Celia Larkin for the purchase of a house.The money, with an undisclosed amount in interest, was repaid just a few weeks ago before the details of the loan emerged during Ahern's resumed evidence to the Mahon Tribunal which is investigating allegations of corrupt links between politicians and the construction industry.The tribunal heard that the loan to Larkin came from cash donated by a Fianna Fail supporter to the cumann in Drumcondra, Dublin. She used it in 1993 to buy a house in which two elderly aunts had lived for 35 years and feared they would have to move out when the landlady died. The remainder of the $60,000 price of the house was provided by the aunts.Ahern told tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon that he had not known of the loan to Larkin until after she had bought the house, but he insisted that it was arranged with the agreement of all members of the committee.Exception to questions about the loan was taken by Larkin's lawyer Hugh Millar who told the tribunal, "We are all grown-ups here. It's being put to the witness that monies were advanced to his girlfriend. That's the import of the question and in my submission that is totally unnecessary."Sharp exchanges at the tribunal were reflected in even more bitter words outside it.Main opposition leader Enda Kenny claimed Ahern's testimony that he was unaware funds from his Fianna Fail constituency were being used to buy a house for Larkin was "unbelievable."Fine Gael leader Kenny argued that what was being said was that either Larkin at the time went behind the taoiseach's back to his friends who controlled the account, or his friends went behind the taoiseach's back to Larkin and told her she could have $50,000 for the purchase of a house.Kenny added, "Nobody believes this."Senior Fianna Fail ministers conceded the loan arrangement was "unusual," but they defied opposition demands to distance themselves from Ahern.Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) Brian Cowen, hot favorite to be next Fianna Fail leader, agreed the transaction was not "run of the mill," but continued to express support for Ahern.Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said that while the loan appeared to be "unusual" he emphatically did not believe Ahern to be corrupt.Labor Party leader Eamon Gilmore called on Ahern to resign. He said, "The taoiseach's situation is now a national embarrassment and needs to be ended to permit the country to move on."