Ray Burke, Concluded evidence at Flood Tribunal
The former Fianna Fáil minister, Ray Burke, has finished giving his evidence to the Flood Tribunal. This afternoon, he told the tribunal how he had refused to give Fianna Fáil headquarters any more than £10,000 out of the donation of £30,000 received in 1989.
Mr. Burke spent most of the day being cross-examined by James Gogarty's barrister, Frank Callinan. The Murphy legal team said that they had no questions for him at this time and the Bailey's legal team asked just one. Mr Callinan put it to the former minister that he did not tell party headquarters about the money from JMSE. Mr. Burke agreed. Mr. Callinan suggested that if this was a legitimate political donation, rather than a bribe, he would have told Fianna Fáil that Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering were "big bankers" who should be tapped for funds in future elections. Mr. Burke said it was not normal for any TD to discuss the donations they received with party headquarters. This may seem unusual, he said, but it was the reality.
Mr. Callinan asked the former minister about the £30,000 donation he received June 7 1989, the Tribunal heard last week that this was came from the Rennicks company. Mr. Burke said that the donor had told Fianna Fáil about the contribution and that party headquarters contacted him asking for it. He said that he handed over £10,000 in a draft to a Fianna Fáil official at a fund-raising lunch. He said that he had decided how much he would hand over. The official asked if he was going to give the balance and Mr. Burke said that he was going to use it in North County Dublin. He said that he did not imagine they were too happy about this and later someone said to him: "We understood you got more than this". He replied "That's as much as you're getting. Good Luck."
Earlier today, Mr. Burke told the Tribunal that a claim by the witness James Gogarty that his company paid Mr. Burke money to procure land rezoning defies logic. Mr. Burke said that the company could not have benefited from such an arrangement because they sold the land a few weeks later.
