The late Des Traynor was chairman of a sub-committee of the board of Aer Lingus which oversaw the performance of Irish Helicopters, at the same time as he was helping Mr Ciaran Haughey establish a rival company.
Mr Traynor was also on the board of Aer Lingus when the company decided it would not pursue legal action against NCB and Celtic Helicopters, arising from documentation concerning Irish Helicopters being sent to its rival. There is no evidence that Mr Traynor was connected to this event.
The Moriarty tribunal heard last week that in 1985 Mr Traynor was involved in convincing investors to put funds into Celtic Helicopters. Mr Traynor raised £80,000 from a number of investors including Mr Joe Malone, Mr Seamus Purcell, Mr Cruse Moss, Mr P.V. Doyle and Mr Xavier McAuliffe. He was also involved in securing an £80,000 loan from Guinness & Mahon bank for the company.
The main shareholders in Celtic Helicopters, Mr Ciaran Haughey and his partner, Mr John Barnacle, each put in £60. Mr Malone told the Moriarty tribunal he declined a suggestion from Mr Charles Haughey in 1985 that he chair the new helicopter company, because he was a director of Aer Lingus at the time and felt it would be inappropriate.
He later agreed to make an investment. He was also on the board of Aer Lingus in 1992 when he declined an offer from Mr Haughey that he put more money into Celtic Helicopters.
Mr Traynor was on the Aer Lingus board for two five-year terms and resigned in December 1992. On both occasions he was appointed by governments led by Mr Charles Haughey. He was chairman of one of four board sub-committees which existed in the 1980s. The sub-committee was concerned with the airline's commercial subsidiaries and its responsibilities included the performance of Irish Helicopters.
In January 1988 the Aer Lingus board was informed that "a breach of confidence" had occurred when confidential commercial information, prepared by NCB and concerning Irish Helicopters, had seemingly been sent to Celtic Helicopters. Consideration was given at the time to pursuing legal action but a decision was taken not to do so because there was nothing to be gained financially from doing so.
According to a source close to the board at the time, another consideration was that taking such a case would be embarrassing for the then Taoiseach, Mr Haughey.
The source could not remember what contribution Mr Traynor made to the debate on the issue. It was not known to other members of the board at the time that Mr Traynor was behind the funding of Celtic Helicopters.
"Des Traynor was an excellent director for Aer Lingus when he served on the board," the source said. "Of course, at the time we didn't know how close he was to Mr Haughey."
In 1998 the board believed that the information which had seemingly been sent to Celtic Helicopters, derived from information given to NCB for a study on "Financing operations for the Aer Lingus group", commissioned by the then Minister for Transport and Tourism, Mr Jim Mitchell, in 1986.
In 1991, when it was publicly disclosed that information concerning Irish Helicopters may have been sent to Celtic Helicopters, it was reported that the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Communications, Mr Brennan, was told that An Post had accidentally delivered a letter addressed to Mr Ciaran Haughey, of Celtic Helicopters, to Irish Helicopters.
An employee of the Aer Lingus subsidiary opened the letter along with other letters received at the same time. The commercial information concerning Irish Helicopters was found inside.
However, a different and more detailed account was given to the board in 1988, according to the source close to the board.
