Publicans and farmers topped yesterday's list from the Revenue Commissioners as the two most common occupations from which settlements of over £10,000

were made. There were 37 publicans and 26 farmers out of the 227 individuals or companies who made settlements totalling over £10 million. The Blarney

Stone Public House Ltd, of Mornington Park, Artane, Dublin, paid £

103,000, the largest publican payment.

Mr William Ryan, a cattle dealer and farmer, of Rocksprings, Cashel Road,

Fethard, Co Tipperary, paid £380,887. The next nearest settlement from a farmer was for £67,106, paid by James Hennessy and Joseph Hennessy, Main

Street, Urlingford, Co Kilkenny. Mr Louis Maguire, a Dublin auctioneer who is the Honorary Consul for Tunisia, made a settlement payment of £24,000, comprising £14,760.42 unpaid tax and £9,239.58 penalities and interest, according to the list. He has a business address at Rathgar Road,

Rathmines, Dublin.

Mr Maguire, a former member of the Fianna Fail National Executive, has been

Tunisia's representative in Ireland since 1986.

He was unavailable for comment yesterday evening.

The total value of the settlements, for the year ended December 1996, was

£10,087,947. In 1996 defaulters made settlements totalling £9.1

million.

A separate list of those fined during last year shows that Waterstones

Booksellers paid £1,200 for failure to lodge P35 returns. Among those fined for failure to lodge corporate tax returns was entrepreneur Noel C.

Duggan, who paid £500 relating to his hardware business in Millstreet,

Co Cork.

A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said the increase in value of this year's overall settlement reflected the buoyant economy. "Everything is up right across the board, so it is not unusual that this would be up too," he said.

This year, the single biggest settlement was for £1,007,938.26, paid by the semi-state company, Bord na Mona, almost half of which - £

476,938.57 - was incurred as penalties and interest.

A Bord na Mona spokesman said that the company's settlement, shown in its accounts last December, related to motor and removal expenses over a 10-year period, and that the figure had been negotiated.

A part of the settlement relates to former managing director Mr Eddie

O'Connor's remuneration package.

The second largest payment amounted to £465,000, paid by Dolianus

Enterprises Ltd, whose address is given as 16/20 South Cumberland Street, Dublin

2. However, the company no longer appears to have offices at those premises.

Its business description is "distribution of newspapers & magazines". The company's directors were unavailable for comment.

The third largest payment was £403,938, paid by the OKR Group, of

Grafton Street, Dublin, which owns restaurant and fast food outlets.