Two cases under the Gaming and Lotteries Act came before Ballyshannon District Court yesterday arising out of a visit by RTE correspondent Charlie Bird to gaming premises in Bundoran in 1999.
Colm O'Donnell, of Main Street, Bundoran, and McEniffs (Bundoran) Ltd were subsequently charged with paying out over the legal limit.
Pleas of guilty were submitted by Mr Paudge Dorrian, defending.
The court heard that Mr Bird and a cameraman entered the premises on March 20th, 1999, and played a number of machines, winning £14 and £4 and witnessing another punter winning £200.
Mr Dorrian said there was a peculiarity in the case in that the owner of the premises was subject to the penalty.
He said in any other circumstance Mr Bird would be prosecuted as it was he who played illegally.
Asked by Judge John O'Donnell if he was blaming Mr Bird, Mr Dorrian remarked that "he was giving a bird's-eye view of the case".
Mr Dorrian said Mr Bird could have chosen another place.
As he lived in Dublin and this was some sort of TV exercise, he could have gone to Bray.
There was legal argument when Garda Insp Aidan Glackin sought the forfeiture of the gaming machines seized, 95 from O'Donnells and 56 from McEniffs.
Judge O'Donnell said he viewed the breaches as very serious and there was a long history of such cases in Donegal.
He said the maximum he could impose was a £100 fine and/or a three-month prison sentence.
He said he viewed the penalties as inadequate.
He fined Colm O'Donnell £80 and said it was not possible to impose a suspended prison sentence because he was unable to apply the same to McEniffs, as the prosecution in that case was against a limited company.
He also fined McEniffs £80.
He ordered the forfeiture of two machines from O'Donnells and three from McEniffs.
In a separate prosecution, McEniffs were fined a further £80 for an offence on April 11th, 1999, of being open outside the permitted hours.