The co-founder of Century Radio, Mr Oliver Barry, yesterday angrily told the tribunal he rejected rumours that he made a second payment to Mr Ray Burke of £40,000.
Mr Barry had been asked by Mr Patrick Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, about Century accounts in 1990-91 around the time the company was negotiating a sale to Capital Radio.
Mr Hanratty referred to £35,000 that Mr Barry said he had paid Mr Burke in May 1989, and £5,000 to RTE. He also referred to another sum of £40,000 which he had mentioned last week to Mr James Stafford, former director, when he was giving evidence.
Mr Barry said angrily: "There are rumours going around that I'm supposed to have paid a second sum of £40,000 to Ray Burke." Mr Hanratty said nobody had suggested he paid a second sum to Mr Burke.
Mr Barry said: "I have not given him any more than £35,000. I'm under oath here and I haven't paid him a second [sum of] £40,000, I've only paid the £35,000. I told that tale on day one, but because of certain media coverage there are stories flying around, and I refute them."
He said the tribunal had put an order on him and he had spent weeks preparing boxes relating to his financial affairs.
"Now the time has come that I must stand up for myself here. My name is being impugned. I have a constitutional right to my good name," he said.
The chairman intervened and said he wanted to assure Mr Barry that he had every desire to find an explanation and he had no desire for any "improper imputation which does not have an evidential base".
Mr Justice Flood said he understood there were two sums of £40,000. The first was the £40,000 made up of the £35,000 and the £5,000.
The second sum of £40,000, as he understood it and he could be wrong, was a figure which arose on closing of the sale to Capital when it was first said that Mr Barry was entitled to further credit of £40,000.
The chairman said there was no document to support this. Consequent on a refusal to pay the sum, Mr Barry advised the board that the £40,000 plus VAT was funds from his personal account and used to defray wages over 25 weeks at £1,600 a week.
"What we want to find is, can the second sum of £40,000 be accounted for either on paper, by testimony or otherwise. The first £40,000 is clearly accounted for. Now I want to find out if the number of weeks' payment of staff at £1,600 came to £40,000. All I want to know is, is that a sum of money which can be accounted for or is it a sum of money which is `gone loose'?" the chairman said.
Mr Barry said he could fully account for the 25 weeks at £1,600 plus VAT. He asked for time to look at documents.
The chairman said he accepted Mr Barry's reputation was at stake and they must give an opportunity to present him with what the tribunal said had arisen.
Earlier, Mr Hanratty asked about a bank memo about Century in 1990 which referred to "political clout". He asked: "Did you think that £35,000 in cash gave you political clout?"
Mr Barry replied: "No, at that time I was very involved with Fianna Fail and I was politically acceptable to anyone in Fianna Fail, and Ray Burke was one of them."