A key witness in the Morris tribunal said yesterday it was "completely absurd" to suggest that he would murder someone because of a slight argument in a pub.
Mr Mark McConnell, along with cousin Mr Frank McBrearty jnr, became the focus of a Garda investigation following the death of cattle dealer Mr Richie Barron in October 1996.
Mr McConnell said he spent the evening of October 13th in the Town & Country pub. At one point, Mr Barron said to him: "You're a poor excuse for a McBrearty."
"I told him I wasn't a McBrearty, I was a McConnell."
Mr McConnell said he had not told Garda Phil Collins he "offered him on", meaning offered him a fight. He said some people held back Mr McBrearty, and Mr Mark Quinn asked him to go to the pool room, which he was happy to do.
Mr McConnell said when he heard Mr Barron had been knocked down he was shocked.
He said he was unhappy with how his first Garda statement was taken.
Insp John McGinley and two other gardaí took his statement in a kitchen dinette late at night, while his wife was kept in the bedroom. His young son was running around, and as he was giving his statement to Garda Phil Collins Insp McGinley was lying "seemingly sleeping" on the sofa.
His statement was not read back to him, and he had made an amended statement later. Garda Collins had "put his own spin" on what he told him.
Earlier, Mr Michael Peoples said the row between Mr McConnell and Mr Barron was "just a slanging match".
He said before he and his wife went to the Parting Glass, he called to an ATM. Bank records indicate a withdrawal at 12.19 a.m. Mr McConnell was still in the Town & Country when he returned from the ATM.
He received an anonymous phonecall in November 1996 from "someone with a Donegal accent". The caller said he "seen me killing Richie Barron", and "running down the fields afterwards".
"I knew it was b------ks, " Mr Peoples said. The caller said he wanted £7,000 to keep quiet, and to go to the White Cross pub with money.
Mr Peoples called gardaí. "The guards instructed me to play along with it." Garda Flynn told him several people had received nuisance calls.
Mr Peoples said he played along, eventually agreeing to pay £500. The caller said he would meet him at the White Cross pub.
Mr Peoples recorded the final phonecall on a dictaphone. He arranged for a friend to be in the White Cross before he arrived to watch who would react when he walked in. However, although he went to the pub as instructed, "nothing happened".