Public approach for donation inappropriate, says Farrell

The former chief executive of the Irish Permanent Building Society, Dr Edmund Farrell, found a public approach from Mr Charles…

The former chief executive of the Irish Permanent Building Society, Dr Edmund Farrell, found a public approach from Mr Charles Haughey in 1989 for a political donation "inappropriate and surprising".

Mr Haughey, who was Taoiseach at the time, approached Dr Farrell in the Berkeley Court Hotel after making a speech at a Fianna Fail presentation on the International Financial Services Centre shortly before the general election of that year. He told Dr Farrell that "the campaign fund was very low".

Mr Farrell referred to a letter the Irish Permanent had received from Fianna Fail seeking a donation, but Mr Haughey informed Dr Farrell that he was speaking not about the party campaign but "his own personal campaign fund".

After the encounter with Mr Haughey, Dr Farrell sent him a £10,000 cheque for his own election campaign and a £65,000 donation for Fianna Fail from the society. Both cheques were dated June 7th, 1989 and were countersigned by another Irish Permanent director, Mr J. Enda Hogan.

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Dr Farrell has "no idea" why he was singled out by Mr Haughey for such an approach. He found it "inappropriate and surprising . . . to discuss a matter of such a nature publicly".

He was also surprised that Mr Haughey's "own personal election machine was not capable of generating sufficient funds . . . I believe that Mr Haughey was delivering two-and-a-half quotas per general election in his own constituency".

Asked about the size of the donation to Mr Haughey, Dr Farrell said: " He was a man of integrity, he was the prime minister of the country, we were a large establishment and if any contribution was to be made, it would be difficult or embarrassing, for example, to send down £500 . . . I thought £10,000 would be an appropriate amount. I don't have any scientific explanation for it."

The society also made a donation to Fianna Fail in October 15th, 1990, and another to Mr Haughey four days later. Dr Farrell said he had no recollection of signing two cheques in 1990.

He presumed the Fianna Fail donation was made following an application in writing, possibly in connection with the presidential campaign of that year. He was "unable to recall the circumstances in which a cheque was drawn in favour of Mr Haughey personally" in the same year. He believed it would have been "a political contribution" authorised by him "in response to a request or an application for such a contribution". A journal entry described the cheque as going to "CJ Haughey, FF party fund".

Dr Farrell does not believe that "any of the society's donations made to Fianna Fail or Mr Haughey . . . were made for the purpose or with the intent of benefiting Mr Haughey in any personal capacity". However, Dr Farrell did make a personal contribution for the benefit of Mr Haughey when the former Taoiseach retired. This followed a request from a personal secretary of Mr Haughey's. The employee said that "a number of Mr Haughey's staff wished to make a presentation to him" and asked if Dr Farrell would help. She advised him that they inquired from Mr Haughey what he would like and he selected a painting worth £4,800. He forwarded a £2,000 personal cheque to the individual who subsequently sent a photocopy of the painting and a receipt.

Dr Farrell also completed a personal standing order to Fianna Fail in or around 1987. This was for £100 per annum over a three- to five-year period.

Dr Farrell said he was aware from records that the society had also made a £5,000 contribution to the Mary Robinson campaign in November 1990. Labour had also received a contribution of £10,000 from the society during the 1989 general election campaign, during which the Irish Permanent had also donated £25,000 to Fine Gael.

He also recalled an occasion when Fine Gael did not make a request for a contribution and he had asked a colleague to inform the party of the situation. Dr Farrell said he did this because the society was "trying to be democratic". Fine Gael eventually made a request and received funding on foot of it.