Dunlop denies immunity deal with tribunal

Mahon tribunal: Former government press secretary Frank Dunlop has denied striking a deal with the tribunal that would give him immunity against prosecution.

Mr Dunlop said he had no arrangement under which he would be given protection against prosecution for perjury in return for co-operating with the inquiry.

He agreed with Bill Shipsey SC, for Monarch Properties executive Eddie Sweeney, that he could end up in jail if he lied to the tribunal.

The tribunal is investigating substantial payments by Monarch to politicians, as well as allegations by Mr Dunlop that he bribed councillors to secure the rezoning of the company's land at Cherrywood in south Dublin.

In earlier evidence, Mr Dunlop had alleged that Mr Sweeney told him in 1993 that Monarch had already made payments to politicians and used the phrase "you have to do whatever you have to do to get things done on Dublin County Council".

Mr Dunlop took this to mean that Mr Sweeney and Monarch were aware he was bribing councillors.

Mr Shipsey said Mr Dunlop was seeking to "hang" Mr Sweeney and Monarch on this phrase, by implicating them in corruption. His client was a God-fearing father of nine and a chartered quantity surveyor who never intended Mr Dunlop to make corrupt payments.

Mr Dunlop agreed that the phrase allegedly spoken was capable of an interpretation that Mr Sweeney was not involved in corruption. However, he said he stood by his own interpretation, because of the "whole culture" of his meeting with Mr Sweeney and what Monarch wanted to achieve at Cherrywood.

Mr Shipsey said the reason Mr Dunlop was insisting on his interpretation was because he had earlier "fingered" Monarch as being aware that he was making corrupt payments. In doing so, he had either made a mistake or told a lie.

Mr Dunlop's interpretation was also influenced by what he knew about his own modus operandi, Mr Shipsey suggested.

Mr Dunlop agreed he knew he was a corrupt man who bribed politicians.

Mr Shipsey said his client did not know this when he met Mr Dunlop and had no basis for suspecting it. The Frank Dunlop he met was an upstanding professional man who had access at the highest levels to politicians and businessmen.

Mr Shipsey said Mr Dunlop had claimed to have undergone a "Pauline conversion" when he changed his evidence in April 2000. As he crossed his Rubicon, Mr Dunlop was claiming: "I once was lost and a liar, I now am found and telling the truth."

However, Mr Shipsey said that, in reality, no such conversion had taken place and Mr Dunlop's supposed crossing of the Rubicon was "just a river crossing".

His client also disputed Mr Dunlop's evidence about the time and location of their meeting, in addition to the content of their conversation. Mr Sweeney will say in his evidence he had a dental appointment on the day Mr Dunlop said the meeting took place.

In his evidence, Mr Sweeney said he had never personally made any payments to politicians. He said he knew nothing about payments by Monarch to the late Liam Lawlor, although he knew Mr Lawlor had done a lot of work helping Monarch to develop the Square town centre in Tallaght.