A retired Bank of Ireland senior official said yesterday that he considered the meeting he was invited to attend in 1989 with the minister for communications, Mr Ray Burke, and promoters of Century Radio to be unique in his experience.
Mr Joseph Maguire, general manager of the Bank of Ireland in 1988-89, said of the meeting: "To be invited by a minister to support the case of clients was unique in my experience. I`d not come across this before."
The bank had given Century Radio and its promoters, Mr Oliver Barry and Mr John Stafford, a facility of £2.3 million in 1989.
Yesterday Mr Maguire said he had never been involved when pressing a customer over a debt in meeting a government minister. He said they were invited to meet the minister at his office at the end of 1989 and he and two other bank officials attended with the promoters.
Mr Burke was behind a desk, and it had all the signs of being his meeting. He told them how much he and the government sympathised with the concept of independent radio stations generally and Century in particular.
Mr Maguire said the minister had gone on to say it was his intention to cap the advertising of RTE and he would look at going the legislative route through the Dail. He had spoken courteously but authoritatively.
The witness said he recalled the minister saying he hoped to have the legislation through by Easter at worst. The bank officials accepted the minister's assurance of urgency.
During the meeting the bank officials asked the minister for a brief private meeting, and Mr Barry and Mr Stafford left for a few minutes, he said. The minister gave them a broad assurance that he was committed to independent radio and to Century.
"He left us in no doubt that his commitment to Century was strong," Mr Maguire said. He said he had never before been given assurances by a government minister over a particular client or over legislation. Mr Maguire said the assurances gave them a degree of comfort but only if they were delivered.