Solicitor says that Burke knew in advance of £60,000 payment

Mr Ray Burke was aware in advance that he was to receive a £60,000 payment from an offshore company that was trying to develop lands in south Dublin, the tribunal has heard.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Burke visited his solicitors in Jersey in November 1984, just a week before the company, Canio Ltd, paid the money to Caviar Ltd, a shelf company controlled by the former Fianna Fail minister.

Diary entries kept by the Jersey law firm, Bedell and Cristin, showed that Mr Burke had an appointment on the island on November 15th, 1984, Mr Simon Howard, of the firm, told the tribunal.

Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, asked whether Mr Burke's presence in Jersey indicated that he had "advance knowledge" of the payment.

Mr Howard said: "It is hard not to believe that his visit was made in the context of these arrangements and the payment being made to his company."

Bedell and Cristin's records show that Mr Joseph McGowan visited the firm two days before Mr Burke. Mr McGowan, Mr Tom Brennan and Mr John Finnegan each owned, through holding companies, one-third shares in Canio.

Six days after Mr Burke's visit to Bedell and Cristin, on November 21st, Lombard and Ulster Bank advanced a loan of £525,000 to Canio as security on lands the company held at Sandyford, Co Dublin. The £60,000 paid to Mr Burke came from this money.

The Sandyford lands were purchased in March 1979 by Mr James Gleeson, of Kilnamonan House, Mulhuddart, for £630,000. "To preserve secrecy" the contract was signed in trust, according to correspondence from Mr Gleeson.

However, Mr Hanratty said this correspondence appeared to have been "scripted and embellished". There was no indication who Mr Gleeson was. Ownership passed to Canio when it was incorporated in 1980.

Mr Hanratty said the purpose of the Lombard and Ulster loan was to repay the shareholders for their investment, according to advice provided to Mr Finnegan in 1984 by Mr Don Reid of Stokes Kennedy Crowley. Mr Burke was paid £60,000, although there was no indication that he made a loan to the company.

Mr Brennan's and Mr McGowan's legal representatives proposed that £60,000 from the Lombard and Ulster loan be retained to pay for "architect's fees". A note from Bedell and Cristin to Mr Finnegan's representatives in Jersey, College Trustees, proposed the retention of £60,000.

College Trustees disagreed with the retention of £20,000 from Mr Finnegan's share and, ultimately, £10,000 was withheld. Mr Brennan and Mr McGowan made up the balance of the £60,000 paid to Mr Burke with contributions of £25,000 apiece.