Yesterday the Moriarty tribunal resumed its questioning of Mr Charles Haughey and came to the question towards which counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, had been moving over Mr Haughey's five appearances in July.
That question is: who gave money to Mr Haughey in December 1979 and January 1980 to allow him settle his £1.14 million overdraft with AIB? Mr Haughey was elected Taoiseach in December 1979 and the overdraft was a threat to his political position.
Without Mr Haughey's assistance the tribunal has been able to establish a part picture of what had happened from files kept by AIB and from records kept by Guinness & Mahon bank (G&M). It also used a document that came into Mr Laurence Crowley's possession when he was appointed receiver to the Gallagher group in the early 1980s.
The documents revealed:
Mr Haughey built up a huge overdraft with AIB during the 1970s.
In late 1979, with the debt breaching the £1 million mark and his dream of winning the leadership of Fianna Fail coming into view, he suddenly decided to address the issue.
His colleague and financial adviser, the late Mr Des Traynor, negotiated the settlement with AIB.
The bank was paid £750,000.
Mr Traynor opened a Guiness & Mahon account in his own name on December 11th, 1979 - the date Mr Haughey was elected Taoiseach. He used the account to gather money used to settle the AIB debt.
The document seen by Mr Crowley showed that some £300,000 was given to Mr Haughey by Mr Patrick Gallagher. Records held by G&M showed money being lodged to the account opened by Mr Traynor, but not the sources of the funds. Yesterday, Mr Haughey was asked who, other than Mr Gallagher, supplied the money given to him in the days and weeks after he was elected Taoiseach. He said he did not know.
At the time of the settlement with AIB, Mr Haughey knew the amount being paid and the amount being written off. His evidence yesterday was that he did not know where Mr Traynor was getting the money from and didn't ask. He knew £300,000 came from Mr Gallagher (the document discovered by Mr Crowley in the 1980s is signed by Mr Haughey) but did not know where the remaining £450,000 came from.
Mr Haughey said he "assumed" Mr Traynor loaned the difference from G&M, of which he was then de facto managing director, but said he had never been told this by anyone, had never signed any documents in relation to any such loan, and had never given Mr Traynor power of attorney to raise such a loan for him.
"Des Traynor was that sort of man," said Mr Haughey. "He solved problems." It is known that the opening deposit in the G&M account, £150,000, came from the Rotunda branch of Bank of Ireland. However, that bank's records do not go back far enough to allow it identify the particular account. Mr Haughey was asked several times whether, without mentioning names, he could speculate as to who could have made the contribution. He said he could not.
Mr Haughey said yesterday it was "possible" Mr Traynor might have asked people for money for him but then seemed to row back on this. "I don't know if he did or did not," he said. Mr Coughlan said the evidence was that it must have happened. Mr Haughey responded that the late Mr Traynor was a man of great financial skill.
"I believed he was capable of providing this money from resources over which he had control or possibly from his own bank." Mr Traynor was a financial adviser to Mr Gallagher as he was to another witness who has appeared before the tribunal, property developer Mr John Byrne. Mr Byrne has said he never gave a penny to Mr Haughey. Mr Traynor was also an adviser to the hotelier the late Mr P.V. Doyle, who provided financial support to Mr Haughey during the 1980s.
Mr Gallagher has told the tribunal he was asked by Mr Haughey for money to help settle his debt, and then came up with a deal involving the purchase of Abbeville land, whereas Mr Haughey has said he suggested Mr Gallagher buy some Abbeville land from him so he could use the deposit to help settle his debt. Mr Haughey said this was a "slight" difference in recollection, though it can also be viewed as two hugely different scenarios.
Whether Mr Haughey's or Mr Gallagher's version is the most likely one is something the chairman, Mr Justice Moriarty, would have to make a decision on in time, Mr Coughlan said.
Mr Haughey resumes his evidence at 10.30 a.m. today.