The Moriarty Tribunal has heard that AIB bank memos dating from 1979 claimed that Charles Haughey was paranoid about the publicity that would accompany any sale of his property. The memos were written months before Mr Haughey became Taoiseach and at a time when his debts with AIB Bank had reached £1.2m.
By December of 1979, when Charles Haughey became Taoiseach, his debt with the AIB had reached £1.14m. He had just become Taoiseach and he told the tribunal today that he was under hourly political pressure of such intensity that his financial problems became of minor importance. Although he agreed that these were problems his political opponents could have used against him, had they found out, Mr Haughey repeated what he has said all along. He said that Des Traynor took care of his financial affairs and that he passed information on to Mr Haughey on a need to know basis.
As soon as Mr Haughey became Taoiseach, Des Traynor offered the AIB a settlement figure of £600,000. A month later the bank accepted £750,000. £110,000, described at the time as a debt of honour, was left on the books to be paid at a later date. Tribunal lawyers asked Mr Haughey why, as a man of honour and in a position of honour, he had not paid that debt. He said that the bank has never asked him.
Also giving evidence today, was millionaire businessman, Dermot Desmond. He was asked about his dealings with Feltrim mining, a company owned until the early 1990s by Charles Haughey's son, Conor Haughey. Mr Desmond confirmed investments he had made in the company, some of which were made at a time when the company was in dire straits and facing liquidation.
Mr Desmond acknowledged that it was pure luck that his investments came good and yielded him a profit of almost £1 million, after the company was taken over. He said he had been glad to help out Conor Haughey, but he stressed that he did not help people out by burning money. He wanted to be supportive, he said, but he did not put money into Feltrim with the intention of losing it.
