Barry's not so happy in the spotlight

It was the sort of touch every theatre impresario would be proud of: just when the audience is nodding off, push on a striking new character with a new story to tell. The problem for Mr Oliver Barry, concert promoter and theatre impresario, is that he himself is the new face, and the audience is sitting patiently in the Flood tribunal.

And Mr Barry, for once in his high-profile career, appears reluctant to tell this story in public.

Mr Barry is the man who was unmasked at the tribunal this week as the third big donor to Ray Burke in the run-up to the general election of June 1989. His generosity exceeded even that of JMSE and Rennicks Manufacturing, both of whom gave the Fianna Fail politician £30,000 in the space of a week.

Now we know that Mr Barry contributed £35,000 to Mr Burke only days before. At the time he was chief executive and deputy chairman of Century Radio, to which the Independent Radio and Television Commission had awarded the first national independent radio licence months earlier.

As minister for industry, commerce and communications, Mr Burke had responsibility for broadcasting policy. He set up the IRTC in 1987 and oversaw a revolution in Irish broadcasting, as the commission handed out one national and 24 local licences in the years that followed.

Century was Mr Barry's big gamble. Together with Wexford businessman James Stafford, he ploughed millions into the first national rival to RTE Radio. Terry Wogan and Chris de Burgh were brought on board to add glitz and leading financial figure Laurence Crowley was there to provide the necessary gravitas. Having won the bid, it seemed they had a licence to print money.

The station opened in September 1989, having put together an impressive schedule driven by household names such as Terry Wogan and Marty Whelan. As minister, Mr Burke opened the station and attended the later festivities.

However, it was all downhill after that. The station failed to attract audiences, advertisers steered clear and by 1990 losses were running at £20,000 a week. Century collapsed in November 1991, leaving Mr Barry financially ruined. He is estimated to have lost at least £3 million.

Up to then everything had gone well for the former laboratory assistant from Banteer, Co Cork. He spent his early years working in the family's fruit and vegetable business and working as a Fianna Fail activist. Like many an Irish entertainment mogul, he started his career promoting showbands in the 1960s. He managed acts such as The Freshmen, Earl Gill and The Hoedowners and, later, Stockton's Wing and Bagatelle.

His most famous signing was The Wolfe Tones, with whom he was associated from 1966.

Mr Barry (59) had close ties with the GAA and held concerts in Pairc Ui Caoimh in Cork to clear the organisation's debts. The Siamsa Cois Laoi festival turned into a massive moneyspinner, culminating in two sellout gigs by Michael Jackson. James Last, Prince, Frank Sinatra, Status Quo, Steve Collins and the Tall Ships all owe their appearances in Ireland in some measure to Mr Barry. His plans to bring U2's PopMart tour to Lansdowne Road in Dublin for two dates in August 1997 ran into determined opposition from local residents, who claimed they would cause excessive noise and inconvenience.

The matter went as far as the Supreme Court, where Mr Barry won a court victory that allowed the controversial concerts to go ahead.

HIS extensive showbusiness interests include involvement with fellow-director Mr Padraig O hUiginn in the Millennium Theatre Company, which plans to spend £1.5 million on the redevelopment of Dublin's Ambassador Cinema as an entertainment facility. He is also involved in the development of a new theatre in Blanchardstown in north Dublin.

Mr Barry, who lists golf as one of his main hobbies, has also developed a "pay-as-you-play" golf club by his home at Hollystown, Hollywood Rath, about three miles from Blanchardstown. Some 34 large family homes by the golf club were sold last year, for prices ranging between £220,000 and £270,000.

Tragedy struck Mr Barry's family in 1997 when his son Brian died in a car fire. The 24-year-old was caught in noxious fumes after the exhaust system of his car overheated.

Mr Justice Flood has reserved judgment for now on whether Mr Barry should be summoned to appear before the tribunal. His lawyers had argued that the £35,000 payment had nothing to do with the present module of the tribunal.

It was Mr Burke who identified, in private, the mystery third donor to the tribunal.

The former minister claimed that some time after receiving the £35,000, he checked with Mr Barry regarding the size of the donation. Mr Burke says he believed the donation was for £30,000, and was only corrected by Mr Barry who told him he gave £35,000.

After Mr Burke's admission last July, there followed six months of protracted correspondence and argument between the tribunal and Mr Barry, which culminated in the concert promoter's appearance at, if not before, the tribunal this week.

When he does give evidence Mr Barry is likely to say that he intended the donation as a contribution to Mr Burke's election expenses. However, at least some of the documentation which came before the tribunal this week appeared to indicate that the money passed through Century's accounts.