Haugheys `knew very little about family company'

Mr Conor Haughey and Mr Sean Haughey TD have told the Moriarty tribunal that until recently they knew very little about how their family company was run. They accepted that as directors of Larchfield Securities they signed documents they did not understand, but they assumed their brother Ciaran had taken advice on the drafting. They agreed that properties owned by Larchfield must have been paid for by their father, Mr Charles J. Haughey, as Larchfield had no cash and no bank account.

Mr Conor Haughey said he was not aware of the purpose of a letter he signed, dated February 14th 1996, referring to a "loan in the amount of £290,329" which Larchfield claimed it had advanced to the Celtic Helicopters in 1991. It said the loan should be converted into preference share capital. He accepted "that I did sign it".

He said he didn't know about the £290,000 loan or preference shares, or any trust documents or anything of that nature.

He agreed with Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, that Larchfield Securities was purely a family holding company. Mr Coughlan added that the accountant appointed by Larchfield to make tax returns for certain years, Mr Ciaran Ryan, had told the tribunal that Conor Haughey and the other directors knew very little about the company's affairs. Mr Conor Haughey agreed he had not known that Larchfield held shares in Celtic Helicopters. Nor did he know about Larchfield's purchase of Mr Cruse Moss's shares. Mr Ryan had already told the tribunal that when he discussed the purchase of the shares with Mr Charles Haughey he had said it should be put down to him.

Expenditure on the island of Inishvickillane, the Celtic Mist and properties in Sligo and Wexford, would not have been carried out by Larchfield Securities either, although it owned them. That could be put down to his father as well.

Mr Sean Haughey gave details of a Larchfield directors' meeting at Abbeville on March 29th 1996 for which he signed the minutes. He said he did not "want to create an impression that there was a formal structure in relation to chairman, secretary etc. Ciaran gave me the minute and asked me to sign it. I would have glanced at it and assumed that Ciaran had taken professional advice on the contents of the minutes." He understood now that the minute was prepared by Deloitte and Touche.

He said he did not know that Mr Xavier McAuliffe, the late Mr Pat Butler, Mr Mike Murphy, or Mr John Byrne had invested in Celtic Helicopters.