Bruton admits Dunlop told him of bribe claim

Former Fine Gael taoiseach John Bruton has told the Mahon tribunal that he now remembers former Fianna Fáil press secretary Frank Dunlop telling him about a demand for money from a Fine Gael councillor.

Under questioning from tribunal counsel Patricia Dillon SC, Mr Bruton said the evidence given by Mr Dunlop on the issue had "prompted recollections" in his mind that he "previously didn't have access to". And he acknowledged that he took no action following the complaint.

Mr Dunlop had told the tribunal that the late Fine Gael councillor Tom Hand had demanded £250,000 from him in exchange for his support for the Quarryvale project in west Dublin.

At the time, the project required the support of Dublin county councillors to go ahead and Mr Dunlop was lobbying councillors on behalf of developers Owen O'Callaghan and Tom Gilmartin, who were behind the project.

Mr Dunlop had said that on advice from other Fine Gael councillors, he approached Mr Bruton at a Fine Gael fundraising dinner in the Red Cow Inn, in May 1993, and told him of the demand. He said Mr Bruton replied that "neither Fine Gael nor the world is populated by angels".

When the story initially came to light in the media in 2000, Mr Bruton denied it. And in a written statement to the tribunal in 2003, he said he remembered a conversation with Mr Dunlop but that it was inconsequential, and if he had been told [about the demand], he would have taken such an allegation seriously.

Yesterday, Mr Bruton said that he had had an opportunity to scrutinise the evidence from Mr Dunlop over the last few days and had thought about the context of the event.

"It gradually came back to me that Mr Dunlop had said something to me that was not inconsequential. . ." he said.

"I gradually came to the conclusion that the phrase 'there are no angels in the world. . .' was a phrase that I could actually have used."

He noted that Mr Dunlop was not claiming that he mentioned a figure of £250,000 and he said he did not recall him mentioning it. Neither did he recall Mr Hand's name being mentioned, though he could not rule it out.

Ms Dillon asked why Mr Bruton had instructed his counsel to tell the tribunal in 2000 that he was not informed about the allegation. "I had completely forgotten about that at that stage," he said.

Ms Dillon asked how he reacted when he was told about the demand by Mr Dunlop. Mr Bruton said he was very much taken aback and very much disinclined to believe it and that he was wary of Mr Dunlop. "I thought about the issue for a little while but I couldn't quite see exactly what I could do about it."

Ms Dillon said it was within his remit to interview Mr Hand about the allegation, to talk to other councillors, to go back to Mr Dunlop in a more formal setting or to go to the gardaí.

Mr Bruton said he could have gone to the gardaí, but if he did so it would have been with hearsay.

"As far as Fine Gael conducting an investigation into the matter is concerned, I don't think the political parties are equipped legally to conduct criminal inquiries, those are a matter for the authorities," he said. He also said he did not recall Mr Dunlop specifically mentioning the Quarryvale project as being the reason for the demand and that he wasn't aware of the Quarryvale issue.

Ms Dillon then produced a letter to Mr Bruton from the Dublin West Action Group, written in 1992, which raised their concerns about "stroked rezoning activity" at Quarryvale and congratulated him on his commitment to integrity in politics. Mr Bruton said he did not recall the letter.