Lawyers for the former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, are to outline at the planning tribunal today his version of what happened at the meeting at which he was paid at least £30,000 in his home in June 1989.
Their account is expected to tally closely with that of the developer Mr Michael Bailey, but will be almost totally at variance with the account given to the tribunal by Mr James Gogarty.
The surprise appearance of a new legal team representing Mr Burke was the major talking point at Dublin Castle yesterday and led to speculation that the former minister is preparing to defend himself fully against Mr Gogarty's allegations, having failed to strike a deal with the tribunal on costs and immunity.
Mr Burke's first team of barristers, led by Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, who represents Mr Charles Haughey, pulled out two months ago following the collapse of talks on immunity. His solicitor withdrew later.
His new team is led by Mr Joe Finnegan SC and includes Mr John Fox. His solicitor is Mr Vincent Shannon, who practises in Mr Burke's home town of Swords.
One crucial question which may be examined today relates to the form of payment Mr Burke received. He told the Dail Mr Gogarty paid him £30,000 in cash as a political donation.
However, lawyers for Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering have produced evidence that the sum involved was £20,000 in cash and a £10,000 cheque.
Mr Gogarty's allegation that Mr Burke was bribed to the tune of £40,000 by JMSE and £40,000 by Mr Bailey led to the establishment of the tribunal and, ultimately, Mr Burke's resignation.
From the witness box, Mr Gogarty yesterday accused Mr Burke of slandering him from the safety of the Dail. In an angry outburst during cross-examination by Mr Anthony Harris, solicitor for the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, he then accused Mr Bertie Ahern and Mr Dermot Ahern of holding "kangaroo courts on me".
"They went up every tree in north Dublin but they didn't come to me," Mr Gogarty said, referring to the Taoiseach's investigation of his original allegations about payments to Mr Burke.
When Mr Harris digressed from his client's interest, Mr Justice Flood suggested he was "wandering around like an Arab in the desert" and, later, "babbling like a brook" in his cross-examination.
Mr Harris did succeed in pointing out that JMSE's solicitor, Mr Denis McArdle, a man Mr Gogarty holds in high regard, had alleged in his statement that the evidence of the witness was wrong in several aspects, particularly relating to the sale of JMSE's lands in Forest Road, Swords, to Mr Bailey.
Mr Redmond's case on the Forest Road lands is that Mr Gogarty sacked Hamilton Osborne King, the auctioneers who had been handling the lands since 1982, negotiated the sale of the lands independently to Mr Bailey and settled for a price which was significantly less than the highest bid which he received.
In support of this argument, Mr Harris pointed out that a rival bid of £1.45 million had been received from Orlynn Homes Ltd, that the solicitor for Murphys had noted at the time that Mr Gogarty had a "bias towards Bailey" and that Mr Gogarty settled with Mr Bailey for a price of £1.45 million, minus the service levy of £122,000 which Murphys had already paid to Dublin County Council.
Whatever happened during the sale of the lands will explain the motive for the payment to Mr Redmond. Mr Gogarty said Mr Redmond sought a 10 per cent cut of the money Murphys saved in service levies on foot of advice he had provided. Mr Redmond's version is that he got £25,000 in "hello money" for introducing Mr Bailey as a potential buyer to Mr Gogarty.
Mr Harris also pointed out that a journalist, Maeve Sheehan, wrote last year that Mr Gogarty paid a senior planning official £25,000.
Mr Redmond acknowledges giving planning advice to Mr Gogarty but denies receiving any payment in return.
Throughout the proceedings, Mr Gogarty vigorously rejected Mr Harris's assertions. As the cross-examination drew to a close, he said Mr Redmond was operating as "city manager, auctioneer, casino runner, the whole bloody lot".