An accountant who became company secretary of some Murphy companies in June 1988 made it clear that he would not stay on unless a detailed examination of the entire group was undertaken.
Mr John Lane told the tribunal that he was asked a short time afterwards by Mr James Gogarty to resign, which he did about the following August or September.
Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, said Mr Lane had a meeting at the home of Mr Joe Murphy snr in Dublin on June 7th, 1988. Mr Lane said the meeting took place early at about 7 a.m. and the main player was Mr Edgar Wadley, an accountant, who chaired the meeting. Mr Murphy's intentions were to dismiss the board of JMSE and other companies and restructure it by appointing himself and Mr Gogarty to the board.
Also present were Mr Roger Copsey and Ms Una Murphy.
The decision was taken and they attended a meeting with Ernst & Whinney, which had been called by the other directors of the various companies. The idea was to dismiss Mr Gogarty.
Those directors, Mr Gerry Downes, Mr Marcus Sweeney and Mr Liam Conroy, had already resigned and Mr Murphy had accepted their resignations. This was the first he knew of this. The meeting ended very quickly. Mr Lane said he was then appointed company secretary of JMSE and a number of other companies with in the Murphy group. There was a meeting in the JMSE premises in Santry some days later. It was the first important meeting since the new board was put in place.
"I suggested very strongly nothing less than a very complete and detailed examination of every event which had taken place over many years in the entire group should be examined in minute detail in order to ascertain exactly where they were," Mr Lane stated.
At the time, a tax amnesty was in place and there was a general feeling about the place which made him feel uneasy. Mr Gallagher asked if he thought it was in the best interests of the companies and the Murphy group in general that this should have been done at that time. "I believed that it was absolutely essential in everybody's interests, including the Murphys, especially the Murphys," Mr Lane said.
Mr Gallagher asked if he indicated the type of firm which should be employed to carry out the examination. Mr Lane said the Murphy group had diverse interests within Ireland and the UK and it needed to be a firm with resources to do all the work correctly and to certify that the company was in good order or to take corrective measures if necessary.
Mr Gallagher asked what the reaction of Mr Murphy and Mr Gogarty was to his recommendation. "There was little response at the time. They just listened. they understood, but they made no commitment at any time. I made it very clear that I could not stay on at all unless they were prepared to undertake this work. Mr Gogarty then asked me to resign, which I did," Mr Lane said.
He had made it very plain to Mr Murphy and Mr Gogarty that this was not so much a request as a requirement. It was some time afterwards that Mr Gogarty asked him to resign. He held the view of the relationship between Mr Murphy and Mr Gogarty that they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and that Mr Gogarty was a very willing servant of Mr Murphy. Mr Murphy would have had great faith in Mr Gogarty and he thought Mr Gogarty would have done anything for Mr Murphy, Mr Lane said.
He said his involvement with the Murphy group ended then. Mr Gallagher asked if he had any notes or records. Mr Lane said had destroyed them about a year ago. Under cross-examination by Mr Dan Herbert SC, for the Murphy group, Mr Lane said Mr Gogarty had told him that accountants who had done an audit of the Murphy group had been misled. Mr Herbert said that two firms had done audits. Was Mr Gogarty suggesting that they were both misled?
Mr Lane said he did not know what that meant on the evidence he was given by Mr Gogarty. He could only comment on the papers presented to him by Mr Gogarty.
Mr Herbert asked if Mr Gogarty offered any explanation as to why he asked him to resign. Mr Lane said not that he could recall. It was quite a short time after the meeting, probably in August or September.