NOTHING SUMMED up Frank Dunlop’s fall from grace better yesterday than his mode of transport; having arrived at the Four Courts in a top-of-the-range silver Mercedes, he left a few hours later hidden in the back of a prison van.
Dunlop, once the government press secretary and the all-powerful manipulator of Dublin county councillors, had just received the longest sentence for corruption ever handed out in Ireland. The wealthy lobbyist and landowners’ friend was now just prisoner number 58240.
A sense of the inevitable hung over Dublin Circuit Criminal Court as Judge Frank O’Donnell delivered his decision on sentencing. As the 62-year-old defendant fidgeted with his cufflinks, it was quickly clear from the judge’s words which way the wind was blowing. There was to be no great escape from jail.
The public interest required a custodial sentence, the judge declared, and not just a “rap on the knuckles”. “The word must go out from this court that the corruption of politicians, or anyone in public life, must attract significant penalties.”
The judge said he had no doubt that Dunlop had actively undermined the confidence of the public in democracy and that he was motivated by gain.
He employed the “R” word used so effectively by Mr Justice Feargus Flood all those years ago when the planning tribunal chairman invited the lobbyist to “reflect” on his evidence to the inquiry in 2000. Judge O’Donnell pointed out that, having bribed councillors in 1992 and then again five years later, Dunlop had had every opportunity to “reflect” on what he was doing, but had chosen to renew his corrupt practices after the long gap.
He drew a sharp contrast between the defendant and the normal clientele of the court: “Some people who come before me knowingly commit crimes through a haze of addiction. What you did, you did with a long-range, focused, criminal intent.”
Dunlop said last year he knew this day was coming and when the moment of sentencing came, he took the news impassively. There was a slight shrug of the shoulders as the judge handed down the sentence of two years and, with six months suspended, and a fine of €30,000 but no visible emotion.
The prison service van whisked Dunlop off to Mountjoy, from where he was quickly transferred to Arbour Hill. With remission for good behaviour, he will be released in July 2010.
