A journalist has told the High Court that a "senior politician" showed him an anonymous hand-written note in June 1998 which stated that the former minister, Mr Ray Burke, had received more than one payment of £30,000 in 1989 and that Mr Denis O'Brien, of 98FM, had paid Mr Burke £30,000.
Mr Karl Brophy was giving evidence on the second day of an action for alleged libel by Mr O'Brien - who heads Esat Digifone and 98FM - against Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd over articles written by Mr Brophy and published in the Irish Mirror on June 10th, 1998.
Mr Brophy said that the letter shown to him by the politician was not signed and did not carry a sender's address. After being shown the note he had contacted a number of people who had applied for radio licences at the time, other politicians, Mr O'Brien's office and the Flood tribunal. He had also faxed a number of questions to a public relations firm acting for Mr O'Brien.
When the case opened on Tuesday Mr O'Brien's counsel, Mr Garrett Cooney SC, said that the newspaper had effectively suggested that part, at least, of Mr O'Brien's success was based on corruption. There was no truth in that allegation, he said.
Mr O'Brien said yesterday that his group had been seeking to raise equity in May 1998. He was in the US when he got a message that the Mirror had sent 11 questions to him. One question asked if he or a company he was involved in had ever made a single donation of, or in excess of, £30,000 to Mr Burke. He had answered that he had never given a donation to Mr Burke. In response to a similar question relating to Mr Michael Lowry, he had answered: "Absolutely no."
Mr O'Brien agreed that he had made donations to political parties. But there was a big inaccuracy in the newspaper saying that he had given money to a politician to "effectively buy a licence". He had phoned his solicitors from the US and asked that they write to the newspaper to seek a retraction. He had never received a word of apology.
The hearing continues today.