Public Relations consultant Mr Nigel Heneghan has confirmed he organised the commissioning of a private opinion poll for Mr Jim Mitchell before the change of Fine Gael leader.
Mr Heneghan said the £9,000 poll cost was shared by 20 people, each paying £450. Above £500 donors to politicians are legally required to be identified.
However, he rejected suggestions that this was a strategy to avoid disclosure of names. The decision to share the cost 20 ways was made before the question of who funded the poll became an issue, he said. He had not been aware then of the £500 limit.
"No corporate bodies or prominent individuals" were involved, he said yesterday.
Mr Mitchell used the poll in his leadership campaign before it became public, prompting Fianna Fail to demand to know the identity of the "wealthy individuals" who effectively funded part of Mr Mitchell's campaign.
Commissioned just before the successful move to replace Mr John Bruton as party leader got under way, the poll showed Mr Mitchell was the public's most popular choice for next Fine Gael leader.
Mr Heneghan said he told Mr Mitchell early last month he was thinking of organising such a poll to test the relative strengths of alternative Fine Gael leadership contenders, including Mr Mitchell. "He did not authorise it," Mr Heneghan said, although it appears he did not object.
Mr Heneghan asked a range of people between January 22nd and 24th to contribute £450 each. He gave the final polling go-ahead to MRBI on January 24th - coincidentally, two days before The Irish Times published results of its poll showing Fine Gael and Mr Bruton performing poorly.
The field work for Mr Heneghan's private poll was carried out on January 29th and 30th, when the heave against Mr Bruton was under way. Mr Mitchell got the poll results on February 2nd, which were leaked to this newspaper the next day.
Mr Heneghan would not name the 20 people who funded the poll yesterday. However, it is understood that as well as himself, Mr Mitchell's close associate Mr Tommy Morris and former election agent Mr Greg Walsh were involved.
However, he said no corporate entity and no prominent individual was involved, thus ruling out speculation that prominent businessman Mr Ulick McEvaddy, a friend of Mr Mitchell, was involved. Mr McEvaddy has denied he had anything to do with the poll.