Sponsors of rezoning file reward are identified

The identities of the anonymous sponsors of a £10,000 reward for information leading to convictions for corrupt land rezoning have been revealed, against the express understanding they had with the media since the offer was first advertised in July 1995.

Despite receiving a letter from the sponsors insisting on continued anonymity, the Sunday Times yesterday named them as Mr Michael Smith and Mr Colm Mac Eochaidh, two Dublin-based barristers and conservationists.

The men are also involved in Lancefort, a company established to oppose developments they regard as damaging to the environment, notably the hotel and/or office scheme planned by Treasury Holdings, near College Green, in Dublin.

Mr Smith said yesterday that they took serious exception to the publication of their names and were considering the possibility of suing the newspaper for breaching an implied contract.

"Given that our primary motivation in offering the reward was to achieve the setting up of a tribunal to investigate allegations made not by us, but by others, and we now have a tribunal, we see our role at this stage as being of dwindling importance."

With the tribunal chaired by Mr Justice Feargus Flood having held its first preliminary session last week, their statement said the Sunday Times action "serves no useful purpose".

Mr Smith is chairman of the Dublin City Association of An Taisce, which recently lodged appeals with An Bord Pleanala against six schemes planned by Zoe Developments. Mr Mac Eochaidh is also a member.

Through both An Taisce and Lancefort, they have become a major thorn in the side of the development lobby. They have used their legal training to pursue An Bord Pleanala in the High Court over its approval for the now abandoned Hilton hotel scheme near College Green. A judgment is expected shortly.

Their intervention in the land rezoning arena was prompted by concern that high-amenity land in Co Dublin and elsewhere was being rezoned for suburban development and that there were serious question marks over the motivations of some of the county councillors involved.

After successive governments declined to establish a tribunal to inquire into allegations of corruption, made by The Irish Times among others, Mr Smith and Mr Mac Eochaidh concluded that the offer of a £10,000 reward might yield information.

They approached several firms of solicitors in Dublin to act on their behalf, but they all declined, saying the matter was too sensitive. This led them to go outside the State to the now well-known firm of Donnelly Neary and Donnelly in Newry, Co Down.

Among those who contacted the solicitors to make serious allegations was Mr James Gogarty, a retired senior executive of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering, of Santry, Dublin.

It was his allegations against Mr Ray Burke that led to the tribunal being set up.