Gogarty claims he was given £50,000 cheque at meeting in Dublin hotel

Mr James Gogarty was given a cheque for £50,000 at the Skylon Hotel in north Dublin in 1990 by Mr Michael Bailey, of Bovale Developments, who advised him to settle his differences with the Murphy group of companies as he "didn't want anything dragged in about Ray Burke", the Flood tribunal was told yesterday.

Mr Gogarty told the tribunal that he had been asked by Mr Bailey to meet him regarding the sale of Murphy group property to Bovale Developments. Mr Gog arty said he had "no information on it".

After a brief conversation, Mr Bailey had turned to the matter of Mr Gogarty's legal difficulties with the Murphy group and had spoken of the fear that Mr Burke would be publicly named in any proceedings.

"He didn't want to get involved in court cases and he didn't want anything dragged in about Ray Burke or himself, because they would never get another bit of planning permission if anything surfaced", Mr Gogarty said.

According to Mr Gogarty, Mr Bailey was concerned about the possibility of a court case. "He said that I should forget about the whole thing and enjoy myself. When we stood up to leave he took a small envelope out of his pocket and put it into my breast pocket and he said `I'll be in touch with you later on'. He came out to the car park and we shook hands and we left."

Mr Gogarty said he went home and opened the envelope and found it was a cheque for £50,000 dated September 30th 1990 and drawn on a Bovale Developments account in the Bank of Ireland branch at Montrose, Dublin. It was signed by directors Michael and Thomas Bailey.

"Baileys didn't owe me any money", Mr Gogarty said. He told his wife about the cheque and put it in his pocket. However, he did not cash the cheque and lost track of it until it turned up with some other papers in the Ulster Bank when he was selling his home some 51/2 years later.

Mr Gogarty says he challenged Mr Bailey about the incident shortly afterwards by telephone. "He said what was meant was that I should forget about the whole thing and enjoy myself.

"I said `I have no need for that'. I said `all I want is a bit of peace and quiet, and I have resolved my differences with Murphys, and, as far as I am concerned, I have my pension now'. "

Asked to identify the cheque, Mr Gogarty did so, adding: "I never lodged that cheque or tried to cash it."

Questioned by counsel for the tribunal, Mr Gogarty said that it was not true that the cheque had been given to him a year earlier to encourage him to ensure that a Murphy group company sold a building on Baggot Street, Dublin, to Mr Michael Bailey.

"I believe that was suggested, but I can't see the logic of it, having regard to the circumstances", Mr Gogarty said. "Baggot Street was sold by public auction, anybody could have bid for it. Bailey, all right, put in a bid some time before the auction, but to Murphy it was a ridiculous bid, £250,000. I think that Mr Kevin Duffy (of Duffy Mangan Butler auctioneers) will, in his statement, confirm that Bailey had no interest in Baggot Street, so I don't know what was behind all that, you know."

Mr Gogarty insisted that the money had been given with the instructions "to enjoy life and not to involve him in my squabbles with Murphy or to bring Ray Burke into the matter, because it would destroy Ray Burke, and he, as well as his companies, wouldn't get any re-zonings ever again. And to keep him out of the squabbles I had with Murphys over fraud and pension and that type of thing".

Mr Gogarty said that, as there was a dispute between the Murphy group of companies and Bovale over the purchase of lands in north Co Dublin, attempts had been made later to get him to give evidence at arbitration hearings. However, as he was unwell, he had not been able to assist either side.

"At that time I wasn't too well and I was waiting to go into hospital, and they tried to serve subpoenas on me, and my wife passed them on to my solicitors to deal with. I never attended the arbitration, but I went into hospital at that time."