Unwise not to give politicians donations- witness

Politicians tend to bear grudges against business people who fail to give them donations, a leading businessman has suggested.

Former finance director of Monarch Properties Dominic Glennane said he would be shooting himself in the foot if he failed to respond to a request for support from a politician.

"As the saying goes, a refusal often causes offence," he told Judge Gerard Keys.

Monarch made substantial contributions to almost 70 politicians in the 1990s when it was seeking the rezoning of its land at Cherrywood in south Dublin.

The Mahon tribunal is currently investigating allegations by lobbyist Frank Dunlop that he bribed councillors to secure the rezoning.

"If somebody comes to you and asks you to make a contribution to their election expenses or a charity, I think it would be very ill-advised not to do so," Mr Glennane told the tribunal.

"Because you would be in effect shooting yourself in the foot because you'd be making an enemy out of somebody. And it's much easier to make enemies than to make friends."

Judge Keys said the witness was saying that if he refused to make a donation, a politician would have a grudge against him. When his rezoning motion came up before the council the politician would not vote for the project.

Mr Glennane said he could not make that quantum leap.

Judge Keys said it was not a quantum leap. There was a strong inference, "as sure as night follows day" that if Mr Glennane did not pay he would not get the vote. To avoid the risk of not getting the vote, the obvious solution was to make the donation.

Mr Glennane said it would depend on the person.

He agreed that if politicians bore a grudge they might vote against him.

He described his reference to "shooting yourself in the foot" as "a loose comment".

Judge Keys said he did not accept this was the case.

Earlier, Mr Glennane told Judge Mahon that it was very easy to cause offence if you ignored a request for a contribution.

Monarch was very aware that some politicians were working very hard, that they were not paid and that they had to fund their own election campaigns.

The company was very sympathetic to people who were very good but it was not picky about who it supported.

He contradicted evidence given by public relations executive Bill O'Herlihy in relation to his contacts with another Monarch executive, Richard Lynn, in May 1992.

Mr O'Herlihy has told the tribunal that Mr Lynn told him at a meeting in the Royal Dublin Hotel in May 1992 that politicians had to be bought to get a rezoning motion through the council.

At the time councillors were voting on the Cherrywood rezoning at the council offices nearby.

However, Mr Glennane said he spent the duration of the council meeting in the hotel with Mr O'Herlihy. Mr Lynn was not there because he was attending the meeting.

Mr Glennane denied that he or anyone in Monarch knew that Mr Dunlop was in the habit of bribing councillors when the lobbyist was hired in 1993.

Mr Dunlop had a top class reputation as a public relations professional, and he was hired to add on some extra weight to Monarch's campaign to have Cherrywood rezoned.

Mr Glennane denied that a £15,000 invoice from Mr Dunlop in November 1993 could have been treated off the books because no VAT was charged.

It was just a normal invoice and there was no connection between it and the rezoning motion on Cherrywood that month.