It is clear now that the Independent Radio and Television Commission was under a serious misapprehension when it made the fateful decision to award the first national commercial broadcasting licence to Century Radio in 1989.
For a start, it is probable that the commission members, along with the rest of the newspaper-buying public at the time, believed that Ireland's leading broadcaster Mr Gay Byrne was about to leave RTE for the new venture.
Reports of Century's efforts to woo Mr Byrne with million-pound cheques had made it to the front pages of the newspapers, which confidently predicted he would swap sides. Century's promotional video, which was shown at the oral presentations by licence applicants, hinted heavily that an unnamed big name would be joining the new station.
It wasn't Century's fault that Mr Byrne got cold feet and decided to stay at RTE. But the impression that he was coming on board probably helped its bid before the IRTC - though his failure to do so ultimately contributed to the station's premature demise.
More seriously, in terms of the tribunal's current deliberations, Century seriously misled the IRTC in relation to its cost structure and, therefore, its ultimate viability. While its two main rivals estimated they would have to pay RTE at least £800,000 for the right to have their signal rebroadcast around the State, Century was able to cite a figure of £375,000, adding that the station would not be viable financially if RTE was paid more.
Financial viability was a key criterion for the IRTC members considering the various applications; were the new station to fail, both the commission and the Minister for Communications, Mr Ray Burke, would be left with egg on their faces.
However, as was plain from yesterday's evidence, Century's quoted figure of £375,000 had spurious origins. The station said it was based on work carried out for Century by the Independent Broadcasting Association, a respected British organisation composed of experts in the field.
However, as Mr James Stafford, co-founder of Century, conceded, the station's advice came not from the IBA, but from Mr Ray Hills, a technical expert who had left the IBA some time previously. Furthermore, Mr Hills has told the tribunal that he did not provide the figure of £375,000, as Mr Stafford has constantly asserted. Nor did he provide a breakdown of the costs involved in this calculation, he has told tribunal lawyers.
Mr Hills also says he told Century to enter into negotiations with RTE (which was looking for considerably more) on the transmission fee as soon as possible. However, there is no evidence that Mr Stafford and his colleagues did this.
Instead, a briefing note was prepared for Mr Burke even before Century had been awarded the licence. The IRTC indicated in advance that it would not ask any awkward questions about the transmission fee - Century had no breakdown of its proposed figure of £375,000 at the time of the oral presentations - and Century got the franchise.
Could it be that Century did not enter into negotiations with RTE because it didn't need to? Mr Hills told Mr Stafford to use "positive influence through your contacts". Mr Stafford said yesterday he believed Mr Burke could "ameliorate" the problem posed by RTE's proposed fee.
But Mr Stafford rejected the assertion by Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, that he had an "understanding" with Mr Burke that the Minister would deal with the issue.
Mr Stafford's evidence has taken longer than expected, partly due to his circuitous answers and his insistence on ploughing through detailed documentation in a - usually fruitless - search for supporting arguments. His cross-examination, which is likely to be heated and lengthy, is expected to start today or tomorrow.