MR Ben Dunne said yesterday he agreed in late 1987 to provide up to £800,000 to relieve the then Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, of his financial difficulties.
Mr Dunne, the first witness at the Dunnes payments tribunal, said he was asked to be one of a number of contributors who would raise between £700,000 and £800,000 for Mr Haughey.
He had decided, however, to pay all the money himself in order to protect the confidentiality of the arrangement. Mr Dunne said he had said at the time. "I think Haughey is making a huge mistake trying to get six or seven people together. Christ picked 12 apostles and one of them crucified him."
Mr Dunne told counsel for the tribunal, Mr Michael Collins SC, that he first met Mr Haughey around 1986 or 1987, although he could not recall exactly when the first meeting was. A friend and business associate of Mr Dunne's, Mr Noel Fox, knew the former Taoiseach and he [Dunne] had said he would like to meet him.
Mr Fox was a chartered accountant with Oliver Freaney and Company and had been a very close friend in the 1970s and 1980s, added the witness. They had remained friends "up to the unfortunate row that took place between me and my siblings".
They had developed a very good working relationship, and Mr Fox had attended early morning management meetings with Mr Dunne four or five times a week. After one such meeting in late 1987 Mr Fox told him that Mr Haughey had financial difficulties.
Mr Fox said he had been approached by the late Mr Des Traynor and told there was a move afoot to get a number of people together to raise money to relieve Mr Haughey of his financial difficulties.
Asked by Mr Collins if Mr Fox explained what the nature of the financial difficulties was, Mr Dunne said "No, I didn't ask him. I understood what financial difficulties were."
When Mr Fox asked him to assist his reaction was yes, he would like to do something. "I would have said `Yes, something will be done'," said Mr Dunne.
The proposition being put to him was that they were trying to get together three or four, or maybe five or six, people to raise between £700,000 and £800,000. "He wanted to know would I be prepared to put in £150,000 or £100,000, I really can't remember."
The situation was left like that on the morning of the meeting. However, Mr Fox had "impressed how confidential this thing should be kept". So shortly afterwards he told Mr Fox he believed Mr Haughey was making a mistake.
He decided that "for confidentiality purposes I'd do it myself for Mr Haughey".
There would have been two discussions between himself and Mr Fox about it the first when Mr Fox told him about the situation, and the second when they agreed the figure of about £700,000.
He had told Mr Fox that he would be in a position to pay the money by the middle of the following year, 1988. Asked by Mr Collins if he had a particular source for the money in mind, Mr Dunne replied. "I would because of the confidentiality of it."
Asked by counsel if he could recall Mr Fox coming with a request to pay the money earlier than that, Mr Dunne said he could not. Until recently he had been under the impression that the first payment was not made until June 1988.
However, a cheque was issued in November 1987, drawn on Dunnes Stores' Bangor account. The cheque, for £182,630 sterling (£205,000 Irish at the time), was signed by Mr Matt Price of Dunnes Stores and made payable to Mr John Furze.
He had had no idea who Mr Furze was before that, but that was who Mr Fox told him to make the cheque payable to.
Asked by Mr Collins if he understood the reason for the use of the name "John Furze", Mr Dunne replied. "Yes, I did. It was for Mr Charlie Haughey's financial difficulties and it was the name that was being used."
Counsel said that presumably the name was being used for reasons of confidentiality Mr Dunne. "That's correct, yes."
Mr Dunne said he could not recall why it had been decided to use Dunnes' Bangor account to source the cheque. He agreed it was possible that it was because the account was in sterling and that may have been more suitable.