Barry seeks to recover costs of €610,000 in tribunal fees

Businessman Oliver Barry is seeking High Court orders to recover some €610,000 legal costs from his involvement with the planning tribunal.

Mr Barry, a former head of Century Radio, is challenging the Flood/ Mahon tribunal's refusal to grant him his legal costs on the basis of the tribunal's 2002 finding that he obstructed and hindered its inquiry into a £35,000 payment made by him to then minister for communications Ray Burke.

Tribunal chairman Mr Justice Feargus Flood had in 2000 found that was a corrupt payment made to serve the interests of Century Radio and rejected Mr Barry's claim it was a political donation.

In judicial review proceedings that opened yesterday, Hugh Mohan SC said he was challenging the finding of obstruction and hindrance of the tribunal.