Gogarty arranged Burke money, Cooney claims

Mr James Gogarty was personally in charge of arranging the money to give to Mr Ray Burke and later implicated other Murphy group executives out of vengeance, Mr Garrett Cooney, SC for the Murphy group alleged at the Flood tribunal yesterday.

Taking issue with Mr Gogarty's evidence that £30,000 was already procured by others when he arrived at a meeting in the JMSE offices in June 1989, Mr Cooney said Mr Gogarty had been "centrally implicated" in efforts to get the sum of £30,000 from a JMSE account at the Allied Irish Banks branch in Talbot Street.

Mr Cooney also alleged Mr Gogarty was involved in the transfer of a similar amount from Murphy funds on deposit with the Industrial Credit Corporation under the care of a solicitor, Mr Denis McArdle, to replenish the Talbot Street AIB account.

Explaining the trail of money, Mr Cooney told Mr Justice Flood: "There was a payment to Mr Burke. It was £30,000. It was felt that this originally should come from the ICC accounts [where Mr McArdle had deposited Murphy group funds] . . . but then there was no urgency because it is abundantly clear when you examine the JMSE accounts at Talbot Street that two cheques sequentially were written on it of June", one for £20,000 and one for £10,000.

Twenty thousand pounds in cash was collected by an accountant with JMSE, Mr Tim O'Keeffe, who returned with it to the JMSE Santry offices. The remaining cheque was made out to cash, Mr Cooney explained.

Mr Cooney went on to say that money from the ICC account was used to replenish the AIB account and that Mr Gogarty was in charge of this entire operation. Mr Cooney said it would be the evidence of Mr O'Keeffe that he had collected the cash and given it to Mr Gogarty and that Mr Gogarty went to Mr Burke with it.

When Mr Justice Flood pointed out that Mr McArdle's evidence was that Mr Roger Copsey had asked him for £30,000, and not Mr Gogarty, Mr Cooney replied: "Mr Copsey's evidence will be that this request from him was as a result of a request from Mr Gogarty."

Mr Cooney put it to Mr Gogarty that "as a matter of fact and as evidenced from letters written by Mr McArdle, you had a role in the withdrawal of £30,000 from the funds maintained in the ICC".

Mr Gogarty responded: "I say you haven't all your facts."

Asked if he denied playing such a role, Mr Gogarty responded: "I deny I played any major role. I played a peripheral role. That's what I am telling you."

Asked by Mr Cooney if he was admitting he knew about the withdrawal of ICC funds and was acknowledging he had even a minor role to play, Mr Gogarty responded: "I know nothing about that."

Mr Cooney: You knew nothing about that?

Mr Gogarty: No.