Republican News · Thursday 3 October 2002

What did Flood find?

BY ROBBIE MacGABHANN

This second interim report deals with three areas covering a period of 30 years. They were land rezoning, Century Radio and the use of offshore trusts and the use of offshore bank accounts by Ray Burke and others.

The report, generated by public hearings over 313 days and the testimony of 170 witnesses, with transcripts that extend to over 35,000 pages, does not have any specific recommendations. This will have to wait until the final Flood report and given that there are still a further 61 areas under inquiry, could be some time yet.

Ray Burke is the centrepiece of this interim report and it is his relationships with builders, developers, financiers and lobbyists that make up the complex web of corruption that the Flood Tribunal is painstakingly recreating.

Ray Burke - politician for sale

From the first year Ray Burke was elected to Leinster House, through subsequent election campaigns, and as a minister, he was engaging in corrupt practices. He used his position as a councillor, as a TD and as a minister for private personal gain.

As a TD and councillor, Ray Burke sought and received regular cash payments from property developers and builders such as Michael Bailey, Tom Brennan and Joseph McGowan.

As a minister for communications, Burke received £35,000 from Century Radio promoter Oliver Barry and Justice Flood has concluded that Burke acted in the interests of Century Radio rather than in the public interest when taking decisions on the market conditions the new national commercial station would face in its competition with RTE radio.

The Flood Tribunal report, limited to certain time periods and areas, has only given us a snapshot of some aspects of one TD's life and ministerial career. Questions remain as to Burke's other ministries and decisions. The interim findings by Flood highlight the need for a more thorough forensic examination of Burke's political career.

So far, Flood has uncovered corrupt payments to Burke of £65,000 as well as £165,000 sterling in an offshore account which Flood also deems a corrupt payment. There is also the little matter of Burke's former house and lands at Briargate in Swords, sold last year for €3.8 million. Burke has been unable to prove he actually paid for the house and the Tribunal has concluded that this too was a corrupt payment.

Ray Burke was also guilty of illegal transfer of funds to and from offshore bank accounts and the tribunal concludes that Burke used these accounts to "conceal the fact that he was the recipient of the funds contained in those accounts because the circumstances in which he came to be paid these sums would not withstand public scrutiny".

PJ Mara

One result of the Flood report was to hastily force the end of the political career of Fianna Fáil strategist, lobbyist and propagandist PJ Mara. The former Dublin Government press secretary and longtime ally of the now disgraced Charlie Haughey resigned as director of Fianna Fáil's Nice Treaty campaign. Mara had failed to disclose to the Tribunal the existence of an offshore bank account held by him in the Isle of Man.

The Flood report chapter dealing with Mara makes very interesting reading. It is stated that Mara's spending as government press secretary was greater than his income and that he received financial assistance from his friends Oliver Barry, one of the promoters behind Century Radio, and financier Dermot Desmond. Mara told the tribunal that his earnings at this time were between £47,000 to £48,000 annually.

Barry and Desmond made loans to Mara that had no structure, no interest charges or any form of timescale for payment.

It was alleged by witnesses to the Tribunal that Mara was, prior to the issue of the commercial television and radio licences, seeking cash payments of £90,000 for the independent TV licence, £75,000 for the commercial Dublin licences and £25,000 for each of the local radio licences. Mara has rejected this testimony.

He made two sworn affidavits because his first testimony did not provide "adequate attribution of certain specific payments". On the issue of his offshore bank account, Mara had "forgotten about it", even though there were was considerable turnover in the account and that he had set up a company registered in the Isle of Man to maintain this account.

Rejecting the allegations of seeking payments for licences, Mara had told the tribunal that he had been discussing a potential engagement with Century as a PR consultant with a salary of between £60,000 and £70,000. The tribunal considers this "highly improbable".

Co-operation with the Tribunal

As part of its legal powers, the Tribunal could legitimately seek information from any person "duly summoned to do so".

Chapter 17 of the Flood report has a list of those who refused to co-operate fully and therefore "obstructed and hindered the Tribunal".

The list of those who obstructed, hindered and/or gave false accounts includes Ray Burke, Tom Brennan. Joseph McGowan, John Finnegan, John Caldwell, Hugh Owens, Oliver Barry, James Stafford, PJ Mara, Joseph Murphy Snr, Joseph Murphy Jnr, Roger Copsey, Frank Reynolds, Tim O'Keefe, John Bates, Michael Bailey, Tom Bailey, Caroline Bailey.