Builder Michael Bailey has told the Flood Tribunal that he was surprised at the bulkiness of the envelopes James Gogarty gave Ray Burke at a meeting at his house in June 1989. He said that he assumed they contained bundles of cash, but had never asked James Gogarty how much was in them. He said that he had arranged the meeting, because Mr. Gogarty said that the Murphy Group wanted to make a contribution to Fianna Fáil.
Today, the Tribunal heard Michael Bailey's version of the meeting at Ray Burke's house when money was handed over. Mr Bailey said that James Gogarty has rung him sometime in the week before the 15 June election in 1989, to say that Joseph Murphy Senior wanted to make a contribution to Fianna Fáil and to ask how they should go about this. He said that he was astonished that Mr Gogarty should ask him about this, but suggested that the contribution should be given to Ray Burke as the local minister. He said that he arranged the meeting at very short notice and the two men went to Ray Burke's house, which was about three minutes drive from Mr. Bailey's building site in Swords.
He said that Mr. Gogarty gave Mr. Burke two envelopes, which totalled, in bulk, the size of a nine by four inch building block. He said that he was surprised at the size of them and assumed they contained bundles of cash, but he never asked James Gogarty how much was in them. He said that he asked himself: "Is this real money". Council for the Tribunal, Des O'Neill pointed out that in his statement last January Mr. Bailey has said that just one envelope was handed over. Mr. Bailey said that must have been a typing error.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Bailey objected to being asked about his political allegiances. He said that he did not believe the Tribunal had the right to ask him such a question. He conceded that he had said, in a statement to the tribunal last Janurary, that he was a member of Fianna Fáil. However, he added that, just because he said that in Janurary, it did not necessarily mean it was still the case.
