JOE Burke, best friend of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, has been in hospital since he was found slumped over the steering wheel of his Mercedes the day after Gardai (police) launched an investigation into an allegation against him of a New Year's Day sex assault.It's the second such allegation against the 58-year-old construction industry businessman whose building company went bust last year with debts of up to $3 million. The first accusation of sex assault three years ago never reached the courts.The house at the center of that claim, owned by a millionaire friend of Burke, also figures in the latest accusation.The Sunday Independent reported that Burke was just minutes from death when found slumped over his steering wheel on January 2.His girlfriend of three years, 39-year-old Fianna Fail Senator Maria Corrigan, has appealed for privacy for Burke, his family and for herself while the sex allegation is under investigation.It's expected to be some time before detectives will be able to interview Burke at length. He was said to be seriously ill in a private hospital near his girlfriend's home in south Dublin.Ahern, who reappointed Burke as chairman of the Dublin Port Company last year for a second term and who appointed his girlfriend to the Senate, was said by aides to be "disturbed" by the latest sex allegation.It followed a New Year's Eve night of partying by Burke which ended when he met a 23-year-old young woman who was known to him at top Dublin nightspot Lillie's Bordello.She and another young woman accepted his invitation to return to the mansion home of his millionaire friend in Malahide in north Dublin. The friend was staying at his city center apartment with his wife.Details of what precisely happened in the mansion are unclear, but the woman is said to have made an accusation of assault, woken her friend and contacted the emergency services. Around the same time, 5:30 on New Year's morning, Gardai at nearby Malahide station received a call from Burke saying he was fearful that a serious allegation was being falsely made against him.Gardai went to the house and after informal interviews both women left in a police car.Burke stayed, and later that morning collected his girlfriend Corrigan from her own home and drove her to Dublin Airport where she caught a holiday flight to the U.S. Burke returned to the mansion where he was again informally interviewed by police. He strenuously denied the sex assault allegation. He told police he was feeling "a bit low."The following afternoon he was found slumped in his car, having apparently consumed alcohol and sleeping tablets.Corrigan cut short her holiday and flew back to Dublin where she said, " This has been a very difficult time for everybody concerned. Joe is very ill. There has been much speculation, but at present none of the facts have been established. Until they have been, I would just sincerely request that Joe's privacy, Joe's family's privacy and my privacy be respected."Friends are said to have expressed concern for Burke's emotional state since the breakdown three years ago of his 30-year marriage to his wife Helen.