Arrangements were made to conceal the involvement of Mr Charles Haughey's son-in-law, Mr John Mulhern, in Century Communications, the tribunal was told. The non-disclosure to the IRTC gave rise to the impression that the commission might have been misled as to the identity of those involved in the venture, Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, said.
He said that in an oral submission to the IRTC on January 1989 the chairman was told that Mr James Stafford and Mr Oliver Barry were each entitled to 25.5 per cent of the shareholding of the company.
Mr Justice Flood was also told shares in Century had not been offered to any other party. That was not quite correct, said Mr Hanratty. The position appeared to have been that Mr Barry came up with the idea of having a national commercial radio station about 1986.
Meetings were held between Mr Barry, Mr Stafford, Mr Gay Byrne, Mr Laurence Crowley, who became chairman, and Mr Enda Marron, a director, with a view to putting together a consortium and which also involved Mr John Mulhern, who became a substantial investor. "A decision was made at some point along the way that the involvement of Mr Mulhern would not be disclosed to the IRTC," Mr Hanratty said. `
The tribunal had not seen any document under which any arrangements were recorded. "It seems unusual and unlikely that an arrangement of this nature . . . would be made without a single document to protect Mr Mulhern's interest," he said. The tribunal had been told there was a gentleman's agreement.