CLUB OWNER DENIES DRUGS USED ON PREMISES

The former owner-manager of Gaucho's disco has denied that ecstasy or other
drugs were being used in his premises when it was raided by gardai in 1995.

Mr Michael McLoughlin told the jury in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court the
club was now closed. "I don't ever want to open a new one," he said. He
worked mostly with street children and an orphanage at the time his club
was raided.

"I did a degree in theology and a one-year course in counselling with the
intention of becoming a counsellor," he told the court. Mr McLoughlin (40),
married, of Gortmore Park, Finglas, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to six
charges arising out of the raid on Gaucho's in Powerscourt Centre, South
William Street, Dublin, on February 1st, 1995.

The charges include allowing the consumption of cannabis on the premises,
possession of ecstasy and other drugs. Mr McLoughlin told his counsel, Mr
Gerard Clarke SC, his life had been greatly affected in the three years
since the raid. His marriage ended and the case had been a major factor in
that. Mr McLoughlin denied to Mr Padraig Dwyer, prosecuting, that there was
a strong smell of cannabis in the air when the gardai raided Gaucho's.
"Maybe on one occasion there was a light smell," he said.

He denied that there were "reefers" all over the floor. "One or two but not
all over the floor," he said. He also denied ecstasy abuse on the premises.
Mr Dwyer suggested that women admitted to the club were very lightly
searched and asked Mr McLoughlin why he did not have a female employed on
the door to search female patrons.

The defendant replied: "We did have a female working on the door for a few
months but had to let her go as the club was nearly bankrupt." Asked by Mr
Dwyer to explain how gardai could search the club and find cannabis while
his security couldn't, he replied: "Many patrons hide it in their underpants".

Mr McLoughlin went on to say at times he had ask the Garda questions and
got no answers. "I made an effort in the early days of the club to meet
with gardai asking questions on the running of the club. At one time they
told me there were `unsavoury' characters to look out for. I asked them for
a list of names and no one ever gave me one. There was a lot of
non-cooperation," he said. Ms Donna Murphy, an expert in tai kwon do
martial arts, said she worked in Gaucho's from October 1994 to January 1995
and told Mr Clarke she would search everyone that came into the club and
look at "their pupils, jaws, boots and handbags". She would also check the
ladies' toilets 10 times a night. Cross-examined by Mr Dwyer, she said she
never saw any drugs consumed.

Mr Gary Wynne, who runs the security company Progart, said he worked as a
"spotter" to look out for people who dealt in drugs. He said there was a
very stringent search policy and Gaucho's "gave the most sophisticated body
search you could do on a Dublin street."

A verdict is expected today in the trial before Judge Dominic Lynch.

Checked-by: Richard Lake