Mr James Stafford's denials about knowing of the £35,000 paid by his business partner in Century Radio, Mr Oliver Barry, to Mr Ray Burke are more disputed by the day. Both Mr Barry and the other main investor, Mr John Mulhern, insist Mr Stafford knew about the payment before it was made in May 1989. Yesterday it was the turn of Century accountant Mr Tom Moore to knock a further hole in Mr Stafford's version.
Mr Moore, in a statement read to the tribunal, said Mr Stafford told him Mr Barry "wished" to make a cash payment to Mr Burke, who was then minister for communications, within six months of Century being launched. This version paints Mr Stafford as a knowledgeable bystander, though not a participant. Mr Moore records his boss's objections at the time: "It was not the way he wished to carry out business".
"Some months later, he told me Oliver Barry had made a payment of £35,000 to Ray Burke, but not out of the funds of Century Communications," Mr Moore said. This conflicts with the account of the witness, who repeated yesterday he only learned of the payment two years after it was made. The accountant "must have got his dates mixed up", he asserted.
The payment to Mr Burke wasn't the only action Mr Barry carried out without the knowledge of his partner, it would seem. Yesterday's evidence opened with the cracking story of how Mr Barry made a "last-ditch" effort to get broadcaster Gay Byrne on board the Century project.
Mr Byrne had been involved in early discussions with Century but by mid-1988 he had got cold feet about leaving RTE. In December, Century put in its bid, but there was a hole in the schedule without Mr Byrne. Mr Barry tried a last throw of the dice. He headed out to Mr Byrne's house in Howth. There, he placed a bank draft for £1 million on the table, and asked Mr Byrne to reconsider.
The offer must have been tempting to Mr Byrne, who was recovering from the debacle with his accountant Mr Russell Murphy. However, RTE was threatening to take him off The Late Late Show if he defected to Century, and he said "no" to Mr Barry.
But how much did Mr Stafford know about this? The witness said he was "at sea"; he knew Mr Byrne had been offered a three-year contract to do a two-hour morning show. If this package was to cost £1 million, well and good. "Gay Byrne was an absolute winner. Even at £1 million, he was good value." But doing a deal and signing a contract, even for such a huge sum, was one thing; throwing down a bank draft open-endedly, without a contract or terms, was another matter. Mr Stafford wondered how a bank would give a draft for £1 million without seeing the money first.
Mr Stafford's ignorance of the actions of his business partner sits awkwardly with the rest of his evidence, in which he repeatedly places himself at the centre of the action. Yet he seemed to have no idea what his partner was up to. Things started to go wrong for Century from the moment it went on air in September 1989. Instead of reaching its target audience of 70 per cent of the population, its signal could only be picked up by 35 per cent. Mr Stafford blamed this on RTE's "dirty tricks". E breached a confidentiality clause by telling advertisers about the low reach. But instead of taking action against RTE, Mr Barry and Mr Stafford brought their complaints to Mr Burke. This was six months after Mr Barry gave the minister £35,000 in cash, but as we know, Mr Stafford says he knew nothing about this.
Mr Burke met the two on a number of occasions, and gave assurances he would "level the playing field" by capping RTE's advertising revenue. E's revenue. As a "personal favour", Mr Burke also met Century's bankers, the Bank of Ireland, and soothed their worries.
However, events moved slowly as the issue became a political football. Mr Stafford engaged in increasingly strident communications with his bankers and Mr Burke. He called on the minister to close down 2FM. But Mr Burke could only do so much. Mr Stafford is likely to relate the sorry end Century came to when he completes his direct evidence, probably today.