Retired farmer says he pulled out of 'dishonest' deal with Kennedy

Mahon Tribunal: A retired Dublin farmer has described how he refused to sell his land to businessman Mr Jim Kennedy because the deal proposed was "dodgy" and "dishonest".

Mr Bob Tracey yesterday claimed that Mr Kennedy and his land agent, Mr Sam Stanley, told him in 1986 that £50,000 would have to be paid in bribes to politicians and planning officials in order to get his farm at Carrickmines in south Dublin rezoned.

Mr Tracey repeated the allegation he first made to a Garda investigation in 1989, namely that Mr Kennedy and Mr Stanley told him that £20,000 would have to be "thrown" to Fianna Fáil and three men in the planning office of the council would have to get £10,000 each to "get the land right".

Mr Stanley has denied making these claims, while Mr Kennedy is refusing to co-operate with the tribunal.

Mr Tracey said the two men told him they had "inroads" into the planning office. "It was obvious that he [Mr Kennedy] was going to buy his way into planning permission," Mr Tracey said.

Asked which man had made these comments, Mr Tracey said: "One would say it, and the other would back it up." He was led to believe that George Redmond would "put the land right" but this would take time.

Mr Tracey initially decided against selling because the would-be purchasers were "giving so much trouble" and weren't prepared to buy the lands outright. In addition, he decided it was "a dodgy, dishonest deal. They would have to buy their way in to get planning permission."

Mr Tracey said he went to the gardaí after reading about a case involving Mr Kennedy in the Sunday World. This said that Mr Kennedy had bought a farm from an old woman in north County Dublin but "she never got a penny; he tricked her out of her farm". The witness said Mr Stanley first approached him while he was working on the farm one day. He introduced himself as an auctioneer seeking land for clients. The two men had never met before.

Mr Stanley offered to buy the lands for £540,000 on an option of £5,000 for three years, but Mr Tracey turned this down. The sale price was acceptable, but only in a straight deal with no option.

Later he was introduced to Mr Kennedy, and he and Mr Stanley told him about the snags of the farm, and the difficulties involved in getting it developed. They said if he put up £80,000, they would guarantee him £1 million when it was developed. Mr Tracey obtained a legal opinion from a senior counsel who told him that because of a restrictive covenant on the land, nothing could be built on most of it. At the time, he had been trying to build a single house so he could live on the farm.

He estimated the value of the land at agricultural rates at £1,000 an acre, or a total of £108,000. The offer of £540,000 was an "enormous" price and a "great offer", he agreed.

In the late 1980s, Mr Stanley contacted him again, and Mr Tracey agreed to sell for an increased deposit. He later tried to back out from the deal but found he was unable to withdraw legally because he has signed over an "irrevocable authority" to Mr Stanley.

Earlier, Mr Stanley denied colluding with Mr Tracey to stymie the sale of the Carrickmines lands to the company set up to handle the purchase, Paisley Park.

Mr Stanley told Mr Ian Finlay SC, for Mr Caldwell, that he never colluded "in any shape or form" with Mr Treacy to defeat the purpose of the 1988 agreement to sell the lands to Paisley Park. Mr Tracey also denied the collusion allegation.