Moriarty tribunal uncovers extra £1m payment

The Moriarty tribunal, which opens next week, has found evidence of previously undisclosed payments of more than £1 million overseen by the late Mr Des Traynor in the 1970s.

Mr Traynor was the financial adviser to Mr Charles Haughey and is known to have solicited funds from prominent business figures for the former Taoiseach. He was one of the main figures behind the setting up and operation of the secretive Ansbacher deposits.

It is not clear if the payments of £1 million plus, which came under the control of Mr Traynor in the 1970s, were intended for Mr Haughey or the extent to which the tribunal has been able to trace the funds to their final destination.

The tribunal, which was established in September 1997, is investigating payments to Mr Haughey and the former Fine Gael minister, Mr Michael Lowry. It will seek to establish the source of all payments to Mr Haughey and whether any decision or decisions made by him when a government minister were linked to the payments.

Next Thursday's hearing will be the first public hearing of evidence by the tribunal. It will begin with an opening statement where it is expected an outline of the work done over the past 15 months will be given. It is also expected that some detail of the matters uncovered by the tribunal will also be disclosed.

The tribunal is not expected to have one long continuous sitting, but rather will sit to deal with a particular matter, then adjourn before sitting again to deal with another aspect of its inquiries. In this way the number of affected parties issued with documents from the tribunal will be restricted at any one time. It is hoped that leaks to the media can be prevented or reduced in this way.

The Flood tribunal, which is inquiring into corruption in the planning process and began public hearings last week, has been strongly criticised by barristers representing a number of parties involved for not making an opening statement before hearing public evidence. Mr Justice Flood has said the evidence of witness Mr James Gogarty (81) is being taken "out of turn" so as to ensure it is "available for future consideration by the tribunal".

On the first day of the beef tribunal the matters which were going to be investigated by that tribunal were detailed. And on the first day of the McCracken tribunal, which investigated payments from Mr Ben Dunne to Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry, the evidence of Mr Dunne was summarised, including the dates and amounts of the payments he said he made to Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry, and the fact that Mr Haughey had denied receipt of the money.

Separately, the Moriarty tribunal has also investigated payments worth about £500,000 from Mr Dunne which may have gone to Mr Haughey, but which were not dealt with by the McCracken tribunal.