Lawlor in secret land deals, say lawyers for tribunal

Former Fianna Fail TD Mr Liam Lawlor was involved in a series of secret land deals with businessman Mr Jim Kennedy and solicitor Mr John Caldwell, the Mahon tribunal has heard.

Tribunal lawyers believe Mr Lawlor received substantial payments offshore arising from his involvement in some of the eight transactions under scrutiny.

In some of these deals, the former assistant Dublin city and county manager George Redmond provided advice or otherwise facilitated the deals by approving the installation of services that would increase the value of the lands.

Redmond made a surprise appearance at the tribunal yesterday, where Judge Alan Mahon agreed to his request to be allowed to attend "as appropriate". The convicted former official was transported to and from Cloverhill prison by two prison warders.

Separately, the tribunal's report into Redmond is to be released today. The clerk of the Dail concluded that there was no need to seek a High Court direction on publication. Written by the tribunal's former chairman, Mr Justice Flood, it is believed to run to about 30 pages.

Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, revealed that the tribunal's investigation into the owners of land linked to Mr Kennedy in Carrickmines was being expanded.

Seven other transactions in which Mr Lawlor, Mr Kennedy and Mr Caldwell were involved during the early 1980s will each be examined in separate sets of hearings. He said the evidence suggested there was a "systematic involvement" by all those concerned which went "beyond the possibility of it being purely coincidental".

However, Mr O'Neill admitted that the tribunal had not yet unravelled the complex ownership structure behind Jackson Way, the English company that owns the Carrickmines land.

Mr O'Neill attributed this to the lack of co-operation from Mr Kennedy, Mr Lawlor's denial of any involvement and Mr Caldwell's assertion that he was legally constrained from providing information. Mr Lawlor has long denied having business links with Mr Kennedy, who lives in the Isle of Man and is refusing to return to give evidence. However, a former employee of Mr Kennedy's amusement arcade in Westmoreland Street will tell the tribunal that the three men met regularly there. Mr O'Neill said the "seemingly unrelated" transactions in which the three men were involved had a number of distinguishing features. They concerned six lots of land near the Newcastle Road in Lucan and one in Baldoyle.

The Lucan lands include Mr Lawlor's former 23-acre holding by his house at Somerton and five encircling plots, known as Airlie Stud, St Helen's, Finnstown, Coolamber and Cruck House. In each case, attempts were made to rezone the land. Offshore companies and trusts were used, with the involvement of a financier in the Isle of Man. The transactions also used the services of a Channel Islands lawyer, Mr Nicholas Morgan, or his company. In Ireland, Binchys solicitors or one of its former partners was involved.

The preferred approach was to purchase options on land for a nominal fee. In every case, the landowner was either unaware of the true development potential of their land or unable to realise this potential by rezoning. The "lion's share" of profits was taken by the option-holder.

Mr O'Neill said the procedure wasn't evidence of wrong-doing, let alone corruption, "of itself". However, where one of the option-holders was also a decision-maker in the planning process, such transactions merited close scrutiny.