Burke has 'no memory' of Gilmartin meeting

Former minister Mr Ray Burke has told the Mahon tribunal he has "no recollection in the world" of attending a meeting in Leinster House between senior Fianna Fáil figures and property developer Mr Tom Gilmartin.

Mr Gilmartin claims this meeting took place in February 1989 and was attended by the then taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, Mr Bertie Ahern, Mr Gerry Collins, the late Mr Brian Lenihan, Mr Seamus Brennan, Mr Padraig Flynn, Mrs Mary O'Rourke and Mr Burke.

Mr Gilmartin has testified that he was approached by Mr Liam Lawlor and another man he didn't recognise after the meeting. He said he was asked by this unnamed man to lodge £5 million in a bank account in the Isle of Man, details of which were written on a piece of paper that was pressed into his hand.

Mr Burke, who was minister for communications, industry and commerce at the time, told the tribunal today he has "no memory of such a meeting".

"And if such a meeting did take place, there would be nothing wrong with it," Mr Burke insisted, saying it was Government policy at the time to encourage investment in Ireland.

Meetings between politicians and business figures happened "all the time" in the corridors of Leinster House, he said, and there was nothing improper in this.

Mrs O'Rourke, then education minister, told the tribunal earlier this month she was briefly present and corroborated Mr Gilmartin's claims of who was there. Asked by tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon if he disagreed with Mrs O'Rourke's account, Mr Burke said: "I'm not disputing it, but I'm not agreeing."

He only wanted to make statements of fact, he said, and was not prepared to be drawn into speculation about what may or may not have happened. Speculating had got many people into trouble with the tribunal in the past, which is something he wished to avoid. The fact was, he said, he had no recollection of the meeting.

Mr Burke then insisted he could not remember ever having met Mr Gilmartin. "The man doesn't register on my radar in my life," he said.

Mr Burke also denied today that he had ever, in the history of the tribunal, been responsible for leaks to the media. He said there had been "continuous" leaks in the past six or seven years.

"Not one of the many leaks has in any way been favourable to myself," Mr Burke said. "With the greatest respect, Mr Chairman, may I suggest looking closer to home might not be a bad idea."