Bertie Ahern plays trump card again - himself

DUBLIN (Reuters) - It is known simply as the 'Bertie factor' and has silenced the naysayers.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's appeal as a beer-supping soccer fan and man-of-the people looked undiminished on Friday as he headed for a third successive five-year term that only a week ago looked far from assured.

A win would cement a political record second only to Eamon de Valera -- the American-born maths teacher and revolutionary who fought British rule and wrote Ireland's 1937 constitution.

Despite helping broker a ground-breaking new government in Northern Ireland this month, Ahern's election campaign got off to a wobbly start amid revelations about his personal finances.

While the furor over cash he received from a businessman dented the ratings of his Fianna Fail party, Ahern's own approval ratings somehow remained robust throughout.

No surprise then that he has been dubbed the "Teflon Taoiseach" (Teflon prime minister) for his ability to evade the scandals that have dogged Ireland's political class for decades.

"It was a Bertie Ahern election and he won it for us," said Mary O'Rourke, a Fianna Fail senator and member of one of Ireland's best known political dynasties.

An accountant by profession, Ahern was first elected to the Dail (parliament) in 1977 and quickly became a protege of three-times premier Charles Haughey, whose legacy would later be overshadowed by illegal financial dealings.

In 2003 Haughey paid taxes and penalties on over 10 million euros ($13.4 million) in secret gifts received while in office and used to fund a lavish lifestyle, including an 18th century mansion, a yacht, private island and stud farm.

"ANORAK MAN"

Ahern is also under investigation by a tribunal over claims he accepted money from a developer in return for favors.

He has rejected the allegations as baseless and spiteful, however, and a visibly much more modest lifestyle than his mentor ensures he often manages to garner sympathy rather than censure whenever his finances are subjected to scrutiny.

"My lifestyle is as simple as it is honest," he said during the election campaign as he explained how cash from friends and businessmen had helped him out following the breakdown of his marriage in the 1990s when he was finance minister.

"There was and is no vast wealth and no high lifestyle."

Known in his early political career as "Anorak Man", Ahern has sharpened his image as premier and faced criticism in 2005 over the 500 euros ($672) a week in tax-payers' money spent on supplying and applying his make-up.

It did no real harm though to a man who likes to unwind with a pint of beer at his local pub in North Dublin and who even manages to turn his failings into endearing character traits.

"He is every great Irish mother's son," The Irish Times once said. "He may not wear odd socks but his oversized suits, slight stutter and constant gulping have endeared him to the public."

That disarming style also won him fans on the world stage as he helped broker what will likely be his greatest legacy.

"He never lost his energy, he never lost his determination, he never lost his vision, he never lost his sense of humor," former U.S. president Bill Clinton said of Ahern's contribution to securing peace in religiously divided Northern Ireland.