Apart from the fact of his having to appear before the tribunal, it has been a good week for Mr Charles Haughey. Yesterday was his best day yet.
Documents from Mr Haughey's file with AIB show that in late 1979 the manager at Dame Street was given permission to discuss Mr Haughey's overall financial situation with the late Mr Des Traynor, Mr Haughey's trusted financial adviser.
Mr Haughey was, by his own admission, a "troublesome" customer. From the mid- to late-1970s Mr Haughey on average made drawings of £100,000 plus a year from an overdrawn account to which he rarely made lodgements. By September 1979 his overdraft was for £913,279.
During December 1980 Mr Traynor became involved on Mr Haughey's behalf in discussing the details of a settlement, though the AIB file shows Mr Haughey also being involved. The file shows that some sort of deal involving Mr Pat Gallagher was expected to produce the money to allow Mr Haughey settle his affairs, and Mr Haughey admits he had meetings with Mr Gallagher in relation the matter. However, he said yesterday he did not know the identity of two other individuals, alluded to in the bank documentation but not identified, who Mr Traynor was at one stage saying might get involved in the transaction.
In other words Mr Haughey could tell the tribunal what it already knew, but couldn't help it in relation to matters which remain a mystery to it. He said Mr Traynor "was quite a reserved person" and "worked on a need to know basis". The persons who were offering to get involved may have been clients of Mr Traynor, Mr Haughey suggested, and he may not have felt he was at liberty at that stage to identify them.
Mr Traynor proceeded to negotiate a deal whereby Mr Haughey's debt of £1.143 million was settled with a payment of £750,000. The money came from Guinness & Mahon. We know £300,000 came from Mr Pat Gallagher but the identity of the other eventual donors is not known. Mr Haughey has not been asked yet if he knows the identity of these other people, but with the scenario he outlined yesterday, it is possible he may say he was never told.
Mr Haughey was elected leader of Fianna Fail and Taoiseach in December 1979 and felt his massive overdraft could be used against him if it became known to his opponents. The period was one of intense political pressure, he said, and in this context his £1 million overdraft was of "minor importance". Mr Traynor had taken over the problem and he would have had "faith in his ability to solve it".
As part of the deal, £110,000 was to be left on the books, interest free, and Mr Haughey, as a matter of honour, was to sell some Abbeville land and clear the debt within a reasonable time. Mr Haughey never did so, but he denied that he had dishonoured a deal he had signed up for. "The debt is still there. I haven't dishonoured it," he said. This got the first big laugh of his evidence to date.
There was a large crowd at the tribunal yesterday, many of whom had heard Vincent Browne urging them to attend on his radio show the night before. When Mr Haughey was being driven away he waved to the crowd, something which sparked an outbreak of good-humoured laughter among many of the women. He is not due to resume his evidence until September.
In the afternoon his friend and benefactor, Mr Dermot Desmond, gave evidence, as did Mr Oliver Murphy, formerly of Hibernia Meats. Mr Murphy told of giving £5,000 towards the Lenihan fund in 1989. Mr Desmond gave evidence concerning his investments in Feltrim Mining plc. He got involved in the company largely because it was being run by Mr Conor Haughey, and his investment looked lost. However, the company was then taken over and renamed Minmet. It prospered and Mr Desmond in all made £960,000 profit out of an investment of just under £300,000. "It was pure luck," he said, smiling.