Fitzwilton to seek tribunal files on Burke payment

The President of the High Court will next week hear an application by Fitzwilton Ltd for access to documents from the Mahon tribunal…

The President of the High Court will next week hear an application by Fitzwilton Ltd for access to documents from the Mahon tribunal.

The company wants the documents before the tribunal begins public hearings into a £30,000 payment by Fitzwilton to former minister Ray Burke for Fianna Fáil funds.

Fitzwilton was last month granted leave to challenge, in judicial review proceedings, the tribunal's decision not to divulge the contents of documents.

Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan will hear the case in the High Court next Monday.

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Fitzwilton is seeking to quash the tribunal's decision refusing access to particular documents and also wants an order compelling the tribunal to make the documents available to its legal team.

The High Court was told last month that, before the 1989 general election, Fianna Fáil had officially solicited a political contribution of £30,000 from Fitzwilton, which the company agreed to make via Mr Burke.

The court heard that Mr Burke handed over only £10,000 of the contribution to Fianna Fáil and that the company had not become aware until 1998 that Mr Burke had retained £20,000.

Fitzwilton was contacted by the tribunal in April 1998 about the contribution, which is now the subject of an investigation by the tribunal.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times