Celia Larkin, also known as Cecilia Larkin, is a former Irish civil servant and was the partner of the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

. Since 2020 she has worked for

Limerick City and County Council Limerick City and County Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach agus Contae Luimnigh) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in the Limerick, City of Limerick and County Limerick in Republic of ...

as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager.

Relationship with Bertie Ahern

Their relationship ended in April 2003. Ahern is separated, though not divorced, from his wife

Miriam Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

. There was some controversy in the media at Ahern's public presentation of his partner. No other European Heads of Government have similarly presented their partner at official engagements. Ahern was accused of hypocrisy in being associated with a woman other than his wife while being a practising Massgoer. The media discovered the couple had broken up when Larkin failed to co-host a diplomatic dinner for the visiting German Bundespräsident, although her name, along with that of the Taoiseach, was featured on the invitations. Larkin, during the period of her relationship with Ahern, regularly acted as his consort. She also occasionally engaged in civic functions in a private capacity. For example, she launched a high speed ferry, the M.V. Jonathan Swift for

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin ...

. On 2 February 2008, it emerged at the

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of cor ...

that a house was bought by Larkin in 1993, with money donated to Ahern's constituency organisation in Drumcondra. There was no documentation to back up this loan to Larkin or to prove around IR£30,000 in other expenditure from this account. Dublin businessman Tim Collins, has denied that Ahern was joint holder of the so-called BT account from which Larkin was loaned IR£30,000 without documentation to describe the loan agreement. Tim Collins denied that the BT account referred to Bertie and Tim, even though he operated a joint account with Des Richardson known as the DT account.

Other activities

Since parting with Ahern, she has expanded her chain of

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is a ...

s, and has appeared on

Reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

, in an

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

show '' The Restaurant'',. In July 2005, Larkin was appointed to the board of the new National Consumer Agency, a government funded

consumer watchdog Consumer Watchdog (formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights) is a non-profit, progressive organization which advocates for taxpayer and consumer interests, with a focus on insurance, health care, political reform, privacy and ener ...

. As a mature student Larkin has graduated from the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

with a first class honors degree in Politics and International relations, graduating top of her class. She completed a post graduate course in

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. In 2016 she began worked for Thames Water in their HQ at Reading as External Affairs Manager. Now known as Cecilia Larkin, in 2020 she was appointed by

as Limerick City Centre Revitalisation Manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Celia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Bertie Ahern Irish civil servants Spouses and partners of Taoisigh