Almost exactly three years ago, on July 15th, 1997, Mr Charles Haughey walked to the witness stand in George's Hall in Dublin Castle to be questioned by counsel for the McCracken (Dunnes Payments) Tribunal.
He had with him a copy of a 10-paragraph statement and, once sworn in and given permission to do so, he read from it.
He apologised for misleading the tribunal and his own legal team in relation to money he had received from Mr Ben Dunne and said his memory of events which occurred prior to his retirement from public life in February 1992 had become "remote and diffused". He then came to the kernel of his evidence to the tribunal.
"Throughout my public life the late Mr Des Traynor was my trusted friend and financial adviser . . . I never had to concern myself about my personal finances. He took over control of my financial affairs from about 1960 onwards. He saw it as his personal responsibility to ensure that I would be free to devote my time and ability to public life and that I would not be distracted from my political work by financial concerns. The late Mr Des Traynor had complete discretion to act on my behalf without reference back to me. In hindsight it is clear that I should have involved myself to a greater degree in this regard."
In other words, his greatest fault was that he had trusted Mr Traynor. It was a mean thing to say about his late friend and it is now to be tested by the Moriarty tribunal, which will begin hearing from Mr Haughey on Friday.
During the past 18 months, evidence has been heard on a number of occasions of Mr Haughey directly soliciting money, seemingly in contrast to the scenario contained in his 1997 statement. One example occurred within days of Mr Haughey being elected leader of Fianna Fail, and Taoiseach for the first time, in December 1979.
Property developer Mr Pat Gallagher has given evidence of being called to Abbeville, Kinsealy, to be told by Mr Haughey of his need for £750,000 to clear his debts. Mr Gallagher agreed to give £300,000 and did.
Other as yet unidentified donors were also called upon to help. In all £750,000 was lodged to an account in Guinness & Mahon at this time and used to settle Mr Haughey's £1.143 million debt with AIB.
Mr Gallagher's evidence contradicts Mr Haughey's version of his involvement with his own financial affairs with, in this instance, his personal finances obviously being among his top priorities at a time when he had been elected to the most senior political office.
Evidence was heard recently of Mr Haughey directly requesting money for Fianna Fail from Dr Michael Smurfit in 1989. Dr Smurfit was told someone would contact him to give him details as to where the money should be sent. It was Mr Traynor who contacted Dr Smurfit. Mr Traynor was Mr Haughey's personal financial adviser and had nothing whatsoever to do with the finances of Fianna Fail. He told Dr Smurfit to send the money to the Henry Ansbacher bank in London.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has given evidence of how he would sign blank cheques on the Fianna Fail party leader's account so that the details could subsequently be filled in and Mr Haughey's signature added. Such a cheque, for £25,000, was lodged to an account with Guinness & Mahon bank which was associated with Mr Haughey's personal finances and controlled by Mr Traynor. It is hard to see how anyone other than Mr Haughey could have directed the cheque towards Mr Traynor.
Other cheques from the party leader's account, signed by Mr Haughey and Mr Ahern, were used to pay for dinners at Le Coq Hardi, and to buy expensive, tailor-made shirts for Mr Haughey from Charvet outfitters in Paris.
Evidence has been heard from former minister for health Dr John O'Connell, cattle exporter Mr Seamus Purcell and businessman Mr Joe Malone of Mr Haughey soliciting funds from them for his son Ciaran's company, Celtic Helicopters.
PERHAPS worse for Mr Haughey is the medical fund he initiated for his former friend, the late Mr Brian Lenihan, in 1989. More than £80,000 was raised and spent on Mr Lenihan's treatment in the US, but it seems more than £150,000 raised in excess of this was spent by Mr Haughey.
Again evidence of his direct personal involvement in this has been heard. According to property developer Mr Mark Kavanagh, Mr Haughey personally received £100,000 from him in Kinsealy on the morning of the 1989 general election, with £25,000 of this being intended for the Lenihan fund and the rest for Fianna Fail. In the event, none of the money went to the Lenihan fund and much of it was spent by Mr Haughey personally. Some of it was presented to Fianna Fail as having come from Dr Smurfit.
Mr Haughey directly sought funds from Dr Edmund Farrell, of the Irish Permanent Building Society, having invited Dr Farrell to the Taoiseach's office and told him how sick Mr Lenihan was. Dr Farrell signed a cheque for £20,000. The cheque was lodged to the account of Celtic Helicopters.
Dr Farrell has said further payments he authorised totalling £140,000 were meant as political contributions to Fianna Fail. The tribunal has established the money was lodged to the party leader's account, an account which, as we have seen, Mr Haughey occasionally used for personal expenditure.
Overall, the tribunal has estimated that Mr Haughey received more than £8 million in the 1979 to 1996 period covered by its terms of reference. It has not identified the source of all this money and will be seeking Mr Haughey's assistance in this regard. His argument that only Mr Traynor knew where all his money was coming from now seems harder to sustain than it was in 1997.
Mr Haughey's legal team is expected to argue that the total involved is £5 million to £6 million. As the evidence is heard the matter of Mr Haughey's tax bill will hover in the background. He has already paid tax on some money he received and evidence from donors of other monies has been that the payments were loans rather than donations, and so no tax bill may arise.
Whatever the final amount, it will not bankrupt Mr Haughey. Far from it. The Haughey family has assets worth in excess of £100 million and the eventual tax bill will probably be settled by selling off a few more fields in north Co Dublin.
Apart from the tribunal and his tax affairs, another matter on Mr Haughey's horizon is the criminal charge he faces arising out of his misleading evidence to the McCracken tribunal. When that hearing will take place, if ever, is anyone's guess. A hearing on the issue of when it should be heard may take place in the autumn.
Mr Haughey is due to begin giving evidence on Friday and will continue next week, most likely giving evidence for only a few hours each morning in deference to his age and condition. Associates say he is not well. The McCracken and Moriarty tribunals have been traumatic affairs for civil society and also, presumably, for Mr Haughey.