The former Fine Gael minister, Mr Michael Lowry, "certainly had a connection" with the party's fund-raising dinner in New York for which it is claimed that a shareholder in Esat Digifone was asked to pay $25,000 for each of two tables.
The party's former general secretary, Mr Jim Miley, gave evidence at the tribunal yesterday that the former minister for transport and communications was involved with the event.
A letter was opened to the tribunal, dated July 4th, 1995, to Mr Lowry from the party's former fund-raiser, Mr David Austin, who suggested they meet to discuss details of the proposed New York dinner. The letter was headed "Most private and confidential".
Mr Austin set out an "A-list" of people who might be invited to the function. There was no reference to Esat or Telenor, a shareholder in Esat Digifone, or their representatives, but it has since emerged that Telenor paid $50,000 to the party in connection with the event, the cost of which was ultimately picked up by Esat.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Jerry Healy SC, put it to Mr Miley that it appeared from Mr Austin's analysis of those who attended in November 1995 and made contributions that there was again no reference to anyone from Esat or Telenor. Yet their contribution of $50,000 was 2 1/2 times greater than that of anyone else attending the dinner. Mr Miley said this was correct.
Counsel said documents also seemed to indicate that Mr Lowry was given the job of targeting people on the A-list to see if they would attend. Mr Miley agreed his name was beside four or five of those listed.
He said that when he set out to investigate how the $50,000 payment came about after Telenor expressed concern about it in 1998, Mr Austin insisted Mr Lowry had nothing to do with it.
Mr Austin told him the payment was made in the context of the New York dinner, but did not explain fully why it was handed over to Fine Gael many months after he received it.
Mr Healy said whether or not Mr Lowry had any involvement with the payment was a matter ultimately for the tribunal. But it was clear Mr Lowry had "quite an involvement with the event to which the contribution was supposed to be related". Mr Miley agreed that on the face of documents he seemed to have had an involvement.
He also agreed that the letter to Mr Lowry should have been included when Fine Gael was considering in 1998 whether there was "a likely Lowry connection" to the payment and therefore a need to refer the matter to the tribunal. But the letter was never drawn to his attention. The first he heard of it was in recent media reports, he said.
Mr Miley, who was general secretary of Fine Gael from July 1995 to April 1999, said he believed earlier that the $50,000 donation given to the party in May 1997, before the general election, was a personal contribution from Mr David Austin.
Mr Austin had telephoned him a few weeks before making the donation and said the money was in "my dollar account, and I'll have to arrange to get it to you".
Mr Miley will continue his evidence today.