Gilmartin 'made a mess of everything'

CORK DEVELOPER Owen O'Callaghan has denied he kept information about a £10,000 payment to the late Liam Lawlor from his business partner in case he thought it was corrupt.

The Mahon tribunal heard that Mr Lawlor was paid £10,000 in September 1991 by Mr O'Callaghan.

Previously, Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin had complained to Mr O'Callaghan that Mr Lawlor had sought money from him and that he was corrupt. His allegation was part of a Garda investigation into corruption in Dublin county council in 1989.

Mr O'Callaghan said he never believed a word Mr Gilmartin said.

"Mr Gilmartin succeeded in making a mess of everything he ever did and he blamed everyone else for it," Mr O'Callaghan said.

The planning tribunal is currently questioning Mr O'Callaghan as part of the Quarryvale II module, an investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding the rezoning of land on which the Liffey Valley shopping centre is built.

Mr O'Callaghan said he paid Mr Lawlor the £10,000 in September toward his election campaign in June 1991. He probably didn't tell Mr Gilmartin about the payment because Mr Gilmartin was not interested, had his own problems in Luton, and had left Mr O'Callaghan "holding the baby".

Counsel for the tribunal, Patricia Dillon SC, asked if Mr O'Callaghan had withheld the information because of Mr Gilmartin's allegations of corruption against Mr Lawlor. "That is not the position," Mr O'Callaghan said.

The tribunal heard that in September 1991, Mr O'Callaghan also gave then Fianna Fáil councillor Colm McGrath £10,000, which he said was for the local election campaign in June that year.

Ms Dillon said then Green Party councillor Trevor Sargent had caused uproar in the council chamber when he waved a £50 cheque he'd been offered by a developer, and had asked if other councillors got money.

"If a cheque for £50 would have caused that kind of uproar in the council chamber, how do you think the council chamber would have received the news councillor McGrath had been paid £10,000 by the developer of Quarryvale?" she asked.

"That's hypothetical, I can't answer that question really," Mr O'Callaghan said.

He also said Mr McGrath had been his eyes and ears in Clondalkin while he was in Cork and was of great service to him. Ms Dillon said Mr McGrath had been paid separately through an invoice for services he provided.

John Deane, business partner of Mr O'Callaghan, told the tribunal Mr O'Callaghan agreed to pay lobbyist Frank Dunlop £300,000 if the cap was lifted on the Quarryvale zoning. Councillors had voted to allow retail development at Quarryvale in December 1992, but had imposed a cap of 250,000sq ft. Concluding his evidence, he also said he still believed that all of the payments made by Mr O'Callaghan to Mr Dunlop were legitimate.