`Gifts' from hotelier developed from night at the dogs

Some £10,000 from a mystery developer, £5,000 from a landowner and two "Christmas gifts" from the hotelier P.V. Doyle were among the cash payments made to the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, in the 1970s and 1980s, the tribunal heard yesterday.

The £10,000 payment came from a developer involved in a land deal with Dublin County Council over which Mr Redmond had ultimate responsibility.

The £5,000 payment came from a petrol-station owner who bought land from the local authority under an order signed by Mr Redmond. However, the retired local authority official claimed there was nothing untoward in any of the payments.

Of the "gifts" from Mr Doyle, Mr Redmond said they were made in the 1970s when the hotelier was involved in a range of property developments. Mr Redmond said he was introduced to Mr Doyle by a mutual friend, Mr Paddy Treacy. The three met at the Montrose Hotel where Mr Doyle gave the other two "a couple of hundred pounds" for them to spend at the greyhound races that evening at Shelbourne Park.

In a statement to gardai in 1999, which was read into evidence, Mr Redmond said the hotelier, in making the payments, had some expectations he was "ingratiating himself with me in my position in the corporation for his hotel plans". Mr Redmond clarified this yesterday, saying the hotelier may have tried to ingratiate himself, but that did not mean he succeeded.

As far as he could recall, the two payments were made around Christmas time and were "in the spirit of the season".

Of the £10,000 payment from the unnamed developer, Mr Redmond said he got the money over a three- to four-year period in the late 1980s in return for "advice".

The man owned property affected by a road-widening scheme and was engaged in the transfer of lands to the local authority. The developer's name was given to the tribunal in writing with two others, who were listed by Mr Redmond as donors in or around 1987.

One was Mr Tom Brennan, a developer Mr Redmond knew for about 20 years and who paid him a retainer for advice of about £15,000 a year.

Mr Redmond said he used to travel once a week to Mr Brennan's home and horse-breeding farm in Co Meath. Mr Redmond normally got about £400 on each visit but "it was never taken as read" and it was never sought. "Whenever he had it, I would take it," said Mr Redmond. "That is my crime."

Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Des O'Neill SC, asked: "Do you consider it a crime, Mr Redmond?" Mr Redmond replied: "No, no. I use that in a different sense, not in the sense of 52 (3) [a statutory offence]".

Of the unnamed donor, Mr O'Neill asked Mr Redmond why he did he not reveal his existence to the Garda Siochana. He replied that he was under a lot of pressure and "may not have remembered him at the time". Also the amount of £10,000 was a "relatively trivial" sum in the context of the Garda investigation.

Mr Redmond said he could not recall the exact details of the case but believed the local authority acquired some of the donor's land under a compulsory purchase order and the donor "got a little bit in the way of compensation".

He could recall the man owned a triangular site which had been developed as a car-park. The corporation was seeking to give land at the apex of the site and take land at the base.

Mr Redmond said his memory was deficient as there were "thousands of things coming across my desk" at the time.

Mr O'Neill asked if he meant there were thousands of private consultancies being offered by him. Mr Redmond replied: "No, certainly not".

Mr O'Neill: "Well, then, why don't you remember this particular circumstance if it was unusual?"

Mr Redmond said: "Next month I will be in my 76th year. I have a certain amount of mental ability still", but his memory did not go back that far.

Mr Justice Flood interrupted, saying the important thing to clarify was whether Mr Redmond was the official within the corporation who had the power to approve the acquisition of the donor's land. Mr Justice Flood asked if Mr Redmond was not "the head of the shop", the person who had control or ultimate responsibility over the matter.

"I had the delegated function, certainly," replied Mr Redmond.

"That means ultimate responsibility," said Mr Justice Flood. The other payment of £5,000 came from Mr Brendan Fassnidge, a businessman who bought lands at the Palmerstown by-pass to develop a filling station. It went ahead despite being in breach of a Department of Environment directive.

Mr Redmond admitted he signed an order agreeing the sale of lands to Mr Fassnidge but claimed this was only under the instructions of other officials, and against his own advice. Mr Redmond believed more money could have been "squeezed" out of the purchaser.

Mr Redmond said the payment may have been made out of "sheer ignorance" on the basis that Mr Fassnidge thought he supported the sale.