The who, what, when and where...
The Flood tribunal, headed by Mr Justice Fergus, was set up in November, 1997, with a remit to investigate the planning history of 726 acres of land in north Co Dublin.
The land was owned by James Gogarty's company, JMSE, and was the subject of a development proposal made by the developer, Michael Bailey. Gogarty claims he paid Ray Burke at least £30,000 in June, 1989, in connection with this deal.
After it was revealed Burke received £30,000 in the same month from Rennicks Manufacturing, the terms of reference of the tribunal were widened to allow for the investigation of all payments to the politician.
There followed a year-long inquiry into a £35,000 payment to Burke by Oliver Barry, the co-founder of Century Radio, in May, 1989. Four months earlier, Century had been awarded the franchise for the first commercial radio station.
The tribunal was also empowered to investigate allegations of corrupt payments, and its work expanded considerably after April, 2000, when the lobbyist Frank Dunlop revealed he had made payments to more than 20 members of Dublin County Council.