Lobbyist says he gave Lawlor £100,000

Mahon tribunal: Late FF politician was claiming to introduce clients and seeking fees, Dunlop tells inquiry Mahon tribunal

The lobbyist Frank Dunlop has said he gave over £100,000 to the late Fianna Fáil politician Liam Lawlor over the years.

Giving evidence at the Mahon tribunal yesterday, Mr Dunlop said that Mr Lawlor was always asking for money. He would claim that he introduced clients to him and then look for "introductory fees".

He said Mr Lawlor would be in contact with him almost on a hourly basis on occasions.

Mr Lawlor had often said that he should not undersell himself and that the clients had plenty of money. However he said that the politician had an ulterior motive in that "the more I got the more he would get".

Mr Dunlop told the tribunal that Mr Lawlor had not asked him for money in relation to his work as a lobbyist for Monarch Properties regarding lands at Cherrywood in south Dublin. He said that this was "a bit odd".

He said that he received £85,000 from Monarch. However he said that he had received "hundreds of thousands" as a lobbyist for other developments.

The tribunal is currently investigating the rezoning of the Monarch land at Cherrywood by Dublin County Council in 1993.

Mr Dunlop said that one of the reasons he had been retained was because the company knew that he had given money to councillors for their votes. He had suspicions that Monarch had made payments to councillors prior to his involvement.

He had been retained in March 1993, several months after the company's proposals for Cherrywood had been defeated in a vote at the council.

A further vote on the issue was due later that year.

Mr Dunlop agreed with tribunal counsel Henry Murphy SC that the reasons he had been brought on board included that he had paid money to councillors and to "undo mistakes" made by Fianna Fáil senator Don Lydon.

He said there appeared to be internal disagreement within Monarch. It seemed Monarch owner Phil Monahan had a high expectation of the housing density that could be achieved while other executives were prepared to accept a lower compromise.

He said the internal confusion had manifested itself in external communications to councillors and that nobody knew what the company wanted.

Mr Dunlop said that within Monarch, no one seemed to know what Mr Monahan was doing. He said it transpired that Mr Lawlor was attempting to advise him in some fashion.

He also said that Mr Monahan had strong political connections.

Monarch executives who were running a lobbying campaign were upset that their employer, as well as Mr Lawlor, were also operating on behalf of the company.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said that Mr Monahan had contributed £3,000 to the Fianna Fáil comhairle Dáil ceanntair in Louth before the 1989 general election. He also gave £16,000 to Fianna Fáil headquarters at about the same time.

Mr Ahern said Mr Monahan owned a shopping centre in Dundalk and was happy at measures introduced to discourage people going north for shopping.

The minister said he knew nothing about Cherrywood.

Labour Party TD Eamon Gilmore said that he had turned down two election contributions offered by Monarch in the 1990s. He said the Labour Party in Dún Laoghaire also returned a £1,000 donation provided by the company in 1998/99.