Barry paid £35,000 as a bribe, says judge

THE £35,000 payment by concert promoter and former Century radio director Oliver Barry to Ray Burke was a bribe and not a political contribution, Mr Justice Flood said in his damning report.

The judge said the money was solicited from Mr Barry in May 1989.

He also held that Mr Barry had brought this demand for cash to the attention of his associate in Quality Artists Management Limited, Mrs McManus, along with his fellow promoters in Century, James Stafford and John Mulhern, prior to making the payment to Mr Burke on May 26, 1989.