Lawlor, 9 councillors implicated in bribery by Dunlop

Ten politicians, including former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor, have been implicated in a massive bribery plot on a day of sensational allegations at the Flood Tribunal.

Mr Frank Dunlop, the former Government press secretary, says that he paid £25,000 in bribes to nine county councillors to secure the rezoning of lands owned by Jackson Way at Carrickmines in south Co Dublin during the 1990s.

According to Mr Dunlop, Mr Lawlor:

first suggested that Mr Dunlop be recruited to lobby for the rezoning of the lands;

owned a stake in the lands, which was registered offshore;

drafted a motion proposing to fix a route for the South-Eastern Motorway which was advantageous to Jackson Way;

had a long-standing relationship with the businessman Mr Jim Kennedy, who is refusing to appear before the tribunal.

Mr Lawlor denies any involvement or interest in Jackson Way or the lands it owns. The councillors also deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Dunlop's evidence could have major implications for the building of the motorway. Conservationists fighting for the preservation of archaeological remains at Carrickmines Castle last night called for the road to be rerouted. This would lead to significant delays in its construction.

"This vindicates what we have been saying all along: that the road was realigned specifically to facilitate Jackson Way and to enrich questionable offshore companies at a cost to the taxpayer and to an archaeological site of international importance," said Mr Ruadhán MacEoin, of the "Carrickminders" protest group. Although the motion to fix the motorway route was defeated, Mr MacEoin says that feeder roundabouts at Carrickmines were enlarged to service the Jackson Way lands.

Mr Dunlop's evidence could also have implications for Jackson Way's €47.5 million compensation claim from Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council for part of its land which was compulsorily acquired for the motorway.

Mr Dunlop says that Mr Kennedy gave him £25,000 in 1991 to bribe county councillors in order to secure the rezoning of the Carrickmines land. If the land was successfully rezoned, the lobbyist would get a "success fee" of £100,000. The motion to rezone the land was defeated by two votes in June 1992.

Some £15,000 was paid to nine councillors to rezone the land owned by Paisley Park in 1992, according to Mr Dunlop. A further £10,000 was paid to two of these councillors during a second rezoning attempt when ownership had passed to Jackson Way in 1997.

Mr Dunlop said that a "system" operated whereby a "nexus" of councillors offered their support by signing or supporting a rezoning motion in return for cash.

In 1997, Mr Dunlop said, he reached a new arrangement with Mr Kennedy. No more money would be paid, but if the land was successfully rezoned he [Mr Dunlop\] would get a success fee of £250,000. This was later translated into a success fee of one commercial acre of the land.

Mr Dunlop listed the payments he made to councillors in connection with the attempt to have the Paisley Park lands rezoned in 1992. These were: £1,000 each to Mr Seán Gilbride, Mr Jack Larkin and Mr Cyril Gallagher, all Fianna Fáil; £3,000 to Mr Tom Hand (FG) and Senator Don Lydon (FF), both of whom signed the rezoning motion; £2,000 to Mr Tony Fox (FF), Mr Liam Cosgrave (FG) and Mr Colm McGrath (FF, now an Independent). Part of a sum of £5,000 paid to Cllr John O'Halloran (Ind) related to his support for Paisley Park, he said.

According to statements before the tribunal, it is alleged that Cllr Liam Cosgrave (jnr) received at least £15,000 in various payments.