Conflicting evidence was heard at the Flood tribunal yesterday when four people recounted their memories of a meeting at NCB offices in mid-1990.
Mr James Stafford, former director of Century Radio, told the tribunal that at the meeting Mr Dermot Desmond told him he (Stafford) owed £30,000 to Mr P.J. Mara.
However, statements read out on behalf of Mr Mara and Mr Desmond flatly denied this and said the meeting was held to look at the possibility of Mr Mara acting as a consultant for Century Radio.
Mr Stafford told the tribunal Mr Oliver Barry had already told him on at least three occasions that Mr Mara had requested £30,000 from him. The meeting was held to discuss this, Mr Stafford said.
He said the meeting was held in Mr Desmond's NCB offices and was attended by Mr P.J. Mara, Mr Desmond, Mr Barry and himself.
He said there were no introductory comments. "Mr Desmond said: `You owe Mr Mara £30,000'. I said we do not owe Mr Mara £30,000," Mr Stafford said.
He said he pointed out that there was no contract or obligation on Century to pay this money to Mr Mara.
He said Mr Desmond said he had lent Mr Mara £100,000 and was relying on this £30,000 as part of the repayment.
Mr Stafford said he suggested this request for money was possibly improper. "They couldn't get me out of the office fast enough," he recalled.
"It was an extremely short meeting . . . I'd be surprised if it lasted five minutes." Mr Stafford said he was "less than happy" with the demand for money.
He said he discussed it with Mr Laurence Crowley, chairman of Century, before and after the meeting. He also discussed it with Mr Barry but "could never get a straight answer".
The second encounter with Mr Desmond took place at Mr Charles Haughey's home in Kinsealy, at Mr Conor Haughey's wedding.
"Mr Desmond comes up to me and uses exactly the same expression: `You owe Mr Mara £30,000'," Mr Stafford said.
He told Mr Desmond that if he heard any more about it he would take the matter up with the taoiseach, who was standing at his shoulder at the time. "The subject never came up again."
Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, read a statement from Mr P.J. Mara, which emphatically denied any suggestion that he sought money from Century Radio.
He agreed that the meeting was held but said it was to discuss the possibility of Mr Mara acting as an adviser to Century Radio.
Mr Mara's statement detailed how, after eight years in political public relations, he felt he had developed "considerable expertise" at the highest levels and considered changing his career to benefit from this.
He said he had been good friends with Mr Barry and had discussed the possibility of acting as an adviser to Century Radio. He told Mr Barry he would need a package of £60,000 to £70,000 per annum, with half of this payable in advance.
He said he would also need stock options at a preferential price.
According to Mr Mara's statement, Mr Barry did not think Century would be able to provide this package. Mr Mara said the meeting was held to discuss this, and both Mr Stafford and Mr Barry confirmed they could not afford it. "At no point in the meeting did Mr Desmond say I was owed money by Century," Mr Mara's statement read.
Mr Stafford strongly rejected Mr Mara's statement, saying he never had any discussions with Century Radio on the employment of Mr Mara.
"If I didn't know about it, the company didn't know about it," he said. "This never took place," he repeatedly said.
He contradicted Mr Mara's statement that the meeting was friendly and informal, saying it was "not particularly friendly and was extremely formal".
Mr Hanratty also read out a statement from Mr Desmond's solicitors saying Mr Desmond had had no knowledge of having ever requested such a payment. He said the meeting in question was held to discuss the possibility of Mr Mara joining Century Radio. Mr Desmond said he had no involvement with Century apart from this meeting.
Mr Hanratty also referred to a statement from Mr Barry saying the meeting was about trying to "fix Mr Mara up with a job". Meanwhile, the Century chairman, Mr Crowley, would tell the tribunal he had no recollection of Mr Stafford telling him that Mr Desmond had requested £30,000 on behalf of Mr Mara. Mr Hanratty pointed out that, of the four people present at the meeting, three had presented a view of the meeting which differed from Mr Stafford's.
Mr Stafford again assured the tribunal that his recollection of the events was "absolutely accurate".
"I have no doubt whatsoever about the absolute accuracy of what I am saying," he said.
