Latest news with #DaithíMcKay
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Nama trial: Jamie Bryson says he sent private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay
The loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has admitted sending private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay before appearing at a Stormont committee but denied they made a secret Bryson has been on trial for the past three weeks along with two others, including Mr McKay, on charges related to misconduct in public all deny the charges against themThe Crown's case is that Mr McKay and Mr Bryson manipulated how evidence was presented to a Northern Ireland Assembly committee meeting on 23 September 2015. The finance committee was investigating Northern Ireland property loans by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).The finance committee meeting was chaired by Mr McKay, and the court heard that he and Mr Bryson exchanged a series of direct messages on Twitter in the weeks before the hearing. 'Not bosom buddies' During his appearance at the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson spoke about how Northern Ireland property loans were handled by the National Asset Management Agency, known as Nama. He made an allegation about the then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Peter Robinson, which was later denied and described by the politician as "scurrilous".Giving evidence in the trial for the first time, Mr Bryson told the court: "I made no agreement with Daithí McKay that he would do anything."He added: "We weren't bosom buddies. We'd spent probably the last three or four years kicking lumps out of each other in the media." Asked why he made contact with Mr McKay on Twitter before the committee meeting, Mr Bryson said he had lobbied all of the main parties on the committee before giving insisted he did not want to break any rules by appearing at the committee and claimed that the content of the Twitter exchanges showed this to be the Bryson told the court: "I don't say 'I'm coming along to tell a bunch of lies, help us out?'."The prosecution said Mr Bryson and Mr McKay were involved in an attempt to subvert the rules of the committee, in order to cause "considerable political embarrassment" to a number of people, including Mr Bryson, 35, from Rosepark, in Donaghadee, County Down, denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public McKay, 43, from Loughan Road, Dunamanagh, County Tyrone, denies a charge of misconduct in public office. Another man, who was a Sinn Féin member at the time, is also on O'Hara, 41, from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, County Antrim, faces a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, which he Crown alleges he, like Mr McKay, was involved in an exchange of messages with Mr Bryson in the run up to the committee Bryson told the court that Mr McKay put him in contact with Mr O' was suggested that Mr O'Hara's role as a Sinn Féin worker meant he operated as a "back channel" to Mr McKay but Mr Bryson rejected said: "I essentially took it as Mr McKay palming me off to a policy worker."Mr Bryson insisted he did "nothing improper" by giving evidence in the way he did to the Stormont committee about trial continues.
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
‘I had no agreement with Daithí McKay': Jamie Bryson takes the stand as defence case begins in Nama trial
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has told a court he 'absolutely, emphatically' had no agreement with former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay over his appearance at a Stormont committee that sparked the so-called Nama trial.
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Stormont rules were subverted to cause ‘political embarrassment' to Peter Robinson, Nama trial hears
The rules of a Stormont committee were subverted in 2015 to cause 'political embarrassment' to former first minister Peter Robinson , a court has heard. The trial of loyalist activist Jamie Bryson , former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay and Thomas O'Hara on charges related to a committee hearing that examined the sale of the National Asset Management Agency's (Nama) Northern Ireland assets got under way on Tuesday. DUP chairman Lord Morrow was among the witnesses who gave evidence on the first day of the trial at Belfast Crown Court. Mr McKay (43) of Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, denies committing misconduct in public office. READ MORE Mr Bryson (35) from Rosepark, Donaghadee, and Mr O'Hara (40) from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, both deny conspiring to commit misconduct in public office. The charges relate to Bryson's 2015 appearance before the Stormont committee, chaired by Mr McKay, which was investigating the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland assets to a US investment fund. A criminal investigation was launched after the publication of leaked Twitter messages between Mr Bryson, Mr McKay and the account of Mr O'Hara, who at the time was a Sinn Féin activist in north Antrim. Mr McKay quit as an MLA within hours of the Twitter messages being published in August 2016. The Stormont finance committee inquiry was set up in 2015 amid political controversy over the multimillion-euro sale of Nama's property portfolio north of the Border. Nama, the so-called bad bank created by the Irish government to deal with the toxic loans of bailed-out lenders during the economic crash, sold its 800 Northern Ireland-linked properties to investment fund Cerberus for £1.2 billion (€1.6 billion). Giving evidence to the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson used Assembly privilege to name former DUP leader Mr Robinson as a beneficiary of the sale. The then-first minister of Northern Ireland strongly rejected any suggestion he benefited from the deal. All other parties involved in the transaction also denied wrongdoing. Opening the case on Tuesday, prosecuting barrister Toby Hedworth KC said it concerned a 'successful attempt to subvert the rules of procedure of a Stormont committee'. He said the purpose of this had been to cause 'considerable political embarrassment' to Mr Robinson and others. 'It is the prosecution's case that by engaging in this subterfuge to allow Mr Bryson to make allegations that he well knew did not come within the terms of reference of the committee, Daithí McKay, as a public office holder, was wilfully misconducting himself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public trust in the office holder's position and it was done without reasonable excuse or justification. 'Mr McKay had contrived how evidence would be given in public session when it should have been given in private session, and allowed it to happen when he had the knowledge of what was to be said. 'Via his agreement with Mr Bryson, there was a conspiracy to allow that to happen with Mr O'Hara being a vital and knowing cog in the wheel.' The first witness in the trial was the Sammy Morrison, who at the time was the PA to TUV leader Jim Allister . He told the court that in August 2016, he had received a phone call from Mr Bryson telling him he would forward emails containing Twitter messages between the loyalist activist and McKay which were going to be the basis of a story on the Nolan Show the following day. Mr Morrison said the messages were then sent to him by Mr Bryson via emails and after reading some of them, he forwarded the messages to Mr Allister. The witness said he had subsequently given permission for a PSNI officer to retrieve the emails from his computer. He was asked if it was widely known that Mr Robinson was going to be named by Mr Bryson during his committee appearance. Mr Morrison said: 'I think everybody knew that when Jamie was coming to give evidence before the committee that he intended to name Mr Robinson. 'I don't think that was limited to myself and Jim [Allister] because we had our meetings with Mr Bryson, I think that was common knowledge. 'Everybody was sitting watching the evidence waiting for that moment to arrive.' Lord Morrow told the trial that he had written to the PSNI chief constable in August 2016 after allegations relating to Mr Bryson and Mr McKay were reported in the media. He said he asked the police to consider if any criminal activity had taken place. Lord Morrow was later asked if it was fair to say Stormont committees were 'not too strict' on the application of terms of reference in its hearings. He said: 'Very often the strictness rests with the chairman … there were times I thought it could have been stricter.' The non-jury trial resumes on Wednesday. – PA
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jamie Bryson and Daithí McKay appear at 'Nama trial'
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and former Sinn Féin assembly member Daithí McKay have appeared together in the dock as the so-called "Nama trial" got under Crown Court heard that the case against the men, as well as Sinn Féin member Thomas O'Hara, concerned an attempt to cause "significant embarrassment" to the then first minister Peter Robinson and McKay is accused of committing misconduct in public office, which he Bryson, 35, from Rosepark, Donaghadee and Mr O'Hara, 40, from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, both deny conspiring to commit misconduct in public office. The case dates back to September 2015 and a hearing of the assembly's finance committee, which was investigating Northern Ireland property loans by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).Mr McKay, 43, from Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, was chair of the committee at the time. He denies misconduct by manipulating the presentation of evidence to the Bryson gave evidence to the committee. During an opening statement, Toby Hedworth KC said it was the prosecution's case that by engaging in "subterfuge" to allow Mr Bryson to make allegations that did not adhere to the committee's terms of reference, Mr McKay was "wilfully misconducting himself to such a degree to amount to abuse of public trust".This was done, he said, "without reasonable excuse or justification".Mr Hedworth said Mr McKay had "contrived" how Mr Bryson's evidence would be given in public session when it should have been in private, and when he had knowledge of what was going to be said."There was conspiracy to allow that to happen, with Mr O'Hara being a vital and knowing cog in the wheel," he added.
