Builder not sure who paid him for work

THE builder who carried out the restoration and extension work on Mr Lowry's Co Tipperary home says he is not sure who paid him for the work.

Mr Jack Tierney, of Faxhill Homes, Newbridge, said he "knew there was a tie-up between Ben Dunne and Mr Lowry but I didn't know what the tie-up was. To this day, I don't know".

He was commissioned to carry out the work by the Dublin architects Peter Stevens & Associates. He said he would send the invoices to Mr Stevens and the "client" would then send the money to his company. He himself might never see the cheques.

Mr Tierney said it was never explained to him why Dunnes Stores or Ben Dunne might be paying him for the work carried out on Mr Lowry's house. He never asked, he said.

The accounts kept by his company would show clearly who had written the cheque for the work, he said.

"I don't know whether it was a personal cheque or a Dunnes Stores cheque. I would have my doubts if Dunnes Stores wrote me a cheque for that."

He said his accounts department would carry out an investigation next week to find out exactly where the money had come from. Having read the newspaper reports, he himself would like to know, he said.

Others who had worked on Mr Lowry's home at the time had been paid by Mr Lowry, Mr Tierney said. He was sure of that.

He said his company had carried out work on the llac centre at around the same time it had worked on Mr Lowry's house but not at the same time.

The work on Mr Lowry's house was carried out about four years ago and would have been for an amount of about £200,000. Quite a bit of work needed to be done, Mr Tierney said.

The Ilac centre contract was a more substantial one. Both the Ilac and Lowry contracts had come to him via the architects Peter Stevens and Associates.

Mr Tierney said he had subsequently done building work for Mr Ben Dunne, with whom he said he had a good relationship. He had a good relationship with Mr Lowry, he said.

As well as the building company Faxhill Homes, Mr Tierney is the owner of the Strand House Hotel, on the Curragh in Co Kildare, and of Tarmel Builders Providers, Newbridge, Co Kildare.