MR BEN DUNNE was a very generous man who gave substantial amounts of money to a variety of good causes and deserving individuals, Mr Denis McCullough SC told the tribunal yesterday.
In his opening remarks, when he summarised the evidence to be given to the tribunal, he outlined the history of the Dunnes group from its foundation by Mr Ben Dunne snr to the acrimonious break up of the group following Mr Ben Dunne jnr falling out with his siblings.
"It will become evident that Mr Ben Dunne has access to considerable amounts of money. He is a man of considerable generosity and his largesse was made available to a wide range of people. He was not slow to give assistance when he felt it was proper to do so," said Mr McCullough.
Six members of the Oireachtas had given evidence of contributions made to political or election campaigns. Each would be called to give evidence on the nature of the contributions and the circumstances in which they were made, he, said.
In addition, Mr Dunne had given contributions to some political parties, which had all demonstrated exceptional willingness to co-operate with the tribunal. Considerable work had been involved in doing so.
This had included £185,000 to Fine Gael, some of it to Alan Dukes in Barberstown Castle while he was leader, the rest to John Bruton in his house. This had been arranged by Mr Michael Lowry TD. He had given £3,000 to Limerick East Fine Gael, and £6,000 to Dublin South Fianna Fail, along with a further £1,000 to a golf classic being organised by Fianna Fail supporters. Two other Fianna Fail organisations, Navan and Meath, got £1,000 and £3,000 respectively.
"In relation to some of them, Mr Ben Dunne has no actual recollection of them, but we have been furnished documents by the parties and he accepts that he made them, said Mr McCullough.
There would also be evidence that a number of Kerry businessmen proposed a theme park in Tralee which would create jobs and enhance tourism in the area. Mr Dick Spring, in whose constituency Tralee lies, phoned Mr Dunne and asked him to support it. He gave £50,000 in the form of a cheque made out to Waterworld, which was brought to Mr Spring by, Mr Dunne's driver.
In 1991, Mr Dunne was drinking with a colleague in The Bardge public house in Ranelagh, Dublin, where a fund raising event was being held for the election campaign of Mrs Mary Robinson. He met Ruairi Quinn, whom he knew, and told him he would like to contribute. He gave him a cheque for £15,000.
In June 1989, he made out a cheque to Mrs Maureen Haughey for the election campaign of either Sean or Charles Haughey. Mr Sean Haughey had acknowledged in a letter to the tribunal that he received money for election expenses. He also paid £10,000 to Mr Ciaran Haughey in October 1988 in connection with helicopter services he had supplied, and £2,000 to Father Eoghan Haughey, a, brother of Mr Charles Haughey, for Masses.
Such payments were all covered by the terms of the Ethics in Public Office Act.
In addition, a very small number of members of the Oireachtas had a business relationship with Mr Dunne. These included Mr Peter Barry, who supplied the company with tea, and Mr Michael Lowry.