Former Fine Gael minister, Mr Michael Lowry, was annoyed when a Cork property developer who had promised to guarantee a £420,000 sterling bank loan for him reneged on the promise, the tribunal heard.
The developer, Mr John Daly, said in evidence he had known Mr Lowry socially for many years, and in November 1999 Mr Lowry told him he was interested in buying a site in Manchester and asked him to guarantee a loan to enable him to purchase it.
Mr Daly agreed to consider it, and in December 1999 Mr Lowry telephoned him on his mobile as he drove between Enniscorthy and Dungarvan and asked him again. Mr Daly, who had a net asset value of £5 million, agreed.
He said he had the guarantor form in his briefcase. He signed it and faxed it to a number given to him by Mr Lowry when he arrived at an auctioneer's office in Dungarvan.
Subsequently an official of GE Capital Woodchester bank, Mr Michael Tunney, telephoned him once or twice. Mr Tunney asked for permission to contact his accountant and told Mr Daly he got his number from Mr Lowry. Mr Tunney will say he got the number from Mr Aidan Phelan, an accountant and business adviser to Mr Denis O'Brien.
Mr Daly said he heard nothing further until Mr Lowry phoned him in January and told him the faxed copy was not enough for the bank. Mr Daly told him he had been thinking about providing the guarantee over Christmas and had changed his mind about providing it because he needed all his resources to invest in a multimillion-pound project in Dungarvan.
He said Mr Lowry was a bit annoyed at first but then saw his point and they remained "the best of friends".
Mr Daly said he did not know the loan had been drawn down when he withdrew as guarantor.
He knew his signature on the guarantee form he faxed for the bank should have been witnessed but it wasn't.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, suggested this was all to provide a paper trail for the transaction. Mr Daly said this wasn't true. He insisted his only intention was to be guarantor of the loan.
Earlier Mr Tony Moreland, an executive with Investec Bank, formerly GE Capital Woodchester, said he recalled being told several times by another executive of the bank, Mr Michael Tunney, that Mr Denis O'Brien was behind the £420,000 sterling loan. Mr Tunney was the person who granted the loan.
Mr Moreland said he was at his wits' end over the loan in February this year as its repayment was overdue. It was the second-largest non-performing loan within the bank and he had "a grave concern" about it. The loan was repaid earlier this year after it came to the attention of the tribunal.