Dunlop says he gave Cosgrave, #1,000 each

Mahon tribunal: Two Dublin county councillors were paid £1,000 each in return for their support for attempts to rezone land near Bray, Co Wicklow, the lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop has alleged.

Mr Dunlop claimed he paid the money to former Fine Gael senator Mr Liam Cosgrave and Fianna Fáil's Cllr Tony Fox in connection with the attempted rezoning of land owned by St Gerard's school. Both politicians vehemently deny the allegation.

The tribunal began hearings yesterday into the unsuccessful attempt to rezone the St Gerard's land in 1998. Mr Dunlop's allegations in this module are separate from bribery allegations he has made in relation to other rezonings around Dublin in the 1990s.

There is no allegation that the school was aware that money would be paid to councillors in connection with the rezoning, Ms Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal, said.

St Gerard's first tried to get the lands rezoned in 1992. On that occasion, it sought the rezoning of 22 of its 60 acres from green belt to low-density housing.

Mr Dunlop was contacted by Mr Marcus Magnier, who was then a partner in estate agents Jackson Stops & McCabe and who had connections with the school. At the time, he had dealings with Mr Magnier in relation to the development of the Phoenix Park racecourse.

At no stage did he mention to Mr Magnier that money would have to be paid to councillors, Mr Dunlop said yesterday. At this stage, Mr Dunlop was not retained professionally and carried out no work on behalf of the school.

In April 1992, a motion proposing the rezoning of the St Gerard's land, proposed by Cllr Liam Cosgrave and seconded by Fine Gael's Cllr Michael Joe Cosgrave, was defeated by 22 votes to 19.

In 1997, the school board decided to try again to get the land rezoned and asked Mr Magnier to co-ordinate the campaign. At the time, Mr Jim Sherwin, the RTÉ rugby commentator, was chairman of the board of governors.

Mr Magnier retained a planning consultant, Ms Auveen Byrne, to deal with the rezoning. She advised of the importance of a favourable report from the planners in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council and an effective lobbying campaign. It would be difficult to persuade the planners, because the lands were on the far side of the motorway from Bray and so couldn't be seen as a suburb of the town.

Mr Dunlop was also retained, and invoiced the school for £2,420 including VAT. Under the agreement, he was to receive a further £3,000 if the rezoning was passed.

Mr Dunlop advised that the school should be actively involved in the lobbying campaign, and a letter signed by Mr Sherwin was sent to all councillors in the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown area.

Mr Dunlop claims he discussed the motion with Cllr Liam Cosgrave, who didn't want to sign the motion but recommended he contact Cllr Donal Lowry. Mr Cosgrave asked for money and Mr Dunlop agreed to pay £1,000, he said.

He then met Mr Lowry, who agreed to sign the motion. No monies were discussed, but Mr Dunlop said he volunteered to make a donation of £250 to Irish Bosnia Aid, on learning that Mr Lowry had a connection with the charity.

Cllr Cosgrave has told the tribunal he supported the rezoning because it would result in better education and leisure facilities for the school. He had no contact with Mr Dunlop on the matter, and emphatically denied the allegation.

Mr Dunlop also claims he approached Cllr Fox about signing the motion, but was advised to ask Cllr Larry Butler to do this. Mr Fox agreed to support the motion if he received money, and Mr Dunlop agreed to pay him £1,000, he said.

Mr Fox has "categorically" rejected this allegation.

Mr Butler agreed to sign the motion if no one else did and no money was discussed, Mr Dunlop has told the tribunal.

Ms Dillon said Mr Dunlop had given varying accounts of when the alleged payments were made. In his latest statement, he said they were made after the vote, whereas an earlier letter to the tribunal puts the payment date before the vote.

The proposal was rejected by 12 votes to 11 at a meeting of Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council in February 1998.

Mr Dunlop said he made the payments to Mr Fox and Mr Cosgrave after this vote. These were the last corrupt payments he ever made.