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 Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

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, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...

. Since 2020 she has worked for

Limerick City and County Council Limerick City and County Council () is the local authority of Limerick City and County in Ireland. It came into operation on 1 June 2014 after the 2014 local elections. It was formed by the merger of Limerick City Council and Limerick Count ...

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 (, 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 Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

. There was some controversy in the media at Ahern's public presentation of his partner. No other European Heads of Government had (at that time) 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, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...

. 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 Republic of Ireland, Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investiga ...

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 that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and Day spa#Medical spa, medical spas. Beauty treatme ...

s, and has appeared on

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

, in an

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

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, Contemporary progressivism, progressive organization which advocates for taxpayer and consumer interests, with a focus on insurance, health care, politi ...

. As a mature student Larkin has graduated from the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

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 University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. 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 Irish women civil servants Spouses and partners of Taoisigh