FF duo got €2,000 each, says lobbyist

The former lobbyist Frank Dunlop has said that two members of Dublin County Council, Fianna Fáil councillors Tony Fox and Colm McGrath, had asked him for money in relation to the rezoning of land at Cherrywood in south Dublin.

He told the Mahon tribunal yesterday that he had given both men £2,000 in cash.

The lobbyist said that he also suspected that some councillors had already been paid for their support to allow a higher density of housing on the Cherrywood land owned by development company, Monarch Properties.

He said that Mr Fox had made comments to the effect that Monarch were "pretty mean".

Mr Dunlop said that he took this to mean that there had been an attempt made to get money from Monarch prior to his involvement. He agreed with counsel for the tribunal that Mr Fox had been "very much on the books" and that he had been paid on a number of previous occasions.

Mr Dunlop said that he had spoken with Mr Fox shortly after he was retained by Monarch in March 1993. He said that fairly early in the conversation Mr Fox had looked for money.

"He said that you will have to give me something for this. I said fine. He said what are you offering. I offered him £2,000 and he said grand," Mr Dunlop stated.

He said that he considered Mr Fox to be "relatively important" as he would speak to others. He said that he had given him the money in cash after the council voted in November 1993 to increase the density on the Monarch lands.

Mr Dunlop said that Mr McGrath had said "it will cost you" when he was approached for support. He said that after negotiations he agreed to pay Mr McGrath £2,000 although he had originally looked for more.

He said Mr McGrath was a key figure. "Mr McGrath was a person who presented himself as a person capable of doing quite a lot during the development plan. He was a person who admired Liam Lawlor very much and said well if Liam can do it, I can do it," he said.

Mr Dunlop also told the tribunal of how, at one stage, he had had a briefcase with £50,000 in cash at home to make payments.

Tánaiste Mary Harney told the tribunal that Monarch had contributed to the Progressive Democrats and to individual candidates throughout the 1990s. However she said that no-one in the party had ever lobbied her regarding a Monarch project.

She said she received a £1,000 donation for the 1992 general election although she had not sought this money. A £3,000 donation made by Monarch for the 1997 election had been given to the party.