Mr Dunlop's evidence took a bizarre twist at one stage yesterday when it emerged that he provided public relations advice to former Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr Seán Gilbride, who was a friend of the former Bishop of Galway, Dr Eamon Casey.
He said the help was given when Mr Gilbride appeared on the Late Late Show in 1993 as a friend of Dr Casey.
The show had invited Mr Gilbride and other friends of Dr Casey's to take part in a panel during the appearance of the bishop's former lover, Ms Annie Murphy, as a guest in April 1993.
Dr Casey had resigned in May 1992 after it emerged that he had had a child by Ms Murphy in the 1970s.
Mr Dunlop said Mr Gilbride had asked the lobbyist to give the group some advice beforehand but he could only recall meeting the councillor on his own. Mr Dunlop acknowledged that the subject was "totally irrelevant" to the tribunal's investigations, but he raised the matter in order to explain an entry in his diary for this period.
