Solicitor denies he had share in Coolamber land

Mahon Tribunal: Solicitor Mr John Caldwell has denied he held a share of the Coolamber land, under investigation by the tribunal, at the time it was acquired in the late 1980s.

Mr Caldwell said he acted as the solicitor for Mr Liam Lawlor in the acquisition of the west Dublin land but did not own part of it, as the former Fianna Fáil TD has claimed. He denied Mr Lawlor's claim that the two men and businessman Mr Jim Kennedy were all involved in the deal.

Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, said notes of meetings prepared by Mr Lawlor appeared to indicate a "three-way involvement" of the three men. They appeared to show that Mr Lawlor and Mr Kennedy owned 41 per cent of the land, and Mr Caldwell 17 per cent.

Mr Caldwell said this was untrue. "What Liam Lawlor put in documents for particular individuals at particular times varied, sometimes even within the same day with two different stories."

Mr Lawlor came to his office in 1987 and asked him to tender for the 55 acres of land. After it was purchased, Mr Caldwell set up an offshore company, Navona Ltd, to own the land. In his view, this was a "Liam Lawlor deal" and it was "not altogether strange" that the politician was acting alone.

Mr O'Neill suggested it was extraordinary that Mr Lawlor would be acting on his own when it was clear that he and Mr Kennedy and others had adopted a "communal approach" to land acquisition in the area in the past.

Mr Caldwell said the acquisition of the land was "a really rushed situation". It was the only time his Isle of Man company administrator, Mr Martin Bullock, had flown over to Ireland to sign papers.

Asked who had suggested the offshore structure for the deal, Mr Caldwell said he probably had. Mr Lawlor was in a difficult financial position at the time so this structure was a way of "protecting his position".

He agreed that Mr Lawlor didn't want his name on any documentation that would connect him to the transaction.

Judge Alan Mahon likened the situation to a "black hole"; Mr Lawlor's name did not appear on any file, not even on his confidential solicitor's attendances. This was "most unusual".

Mr Caldwell said that when a client had financial difficulties, he wouldn't put the name on the file. He would set up a structure that was "as anonymous and as confidential" as possible.

Judge Gerald Keys said the structures created by Mr Caldwell would assist those trying to avoid the Revenue Commissioners because they would not exist in the eyes of the taxman. The witness replied that it was perfectly in order for a person to "mitigate" tax paid. A person's affairs could be structured lawfully so that no tax was paid. The person had a "moral obligation" to take whatever steps were necessary to protect his position. Judge Mahon said that under this arrangement, a person's assets could be lost if the person, or Mr Caldwell, died.

Mr Caldwell said if something happened to the person, he would ensure the assets went to the next of kin. But he agreed "if I had been run over by the Clapham omnibus, yes, there would have been a bit of a mess".