No evidence of five-figure payment to Martin

ALLEGATION:AN ALLEGATION that developer Owen O'Callaghan may have paid Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin a "five-figure sum" was not substantiated by the Mahon tribunal, its report shows.

The tribunal noted that Sligo-born developer Tom Gilmartin alleged that Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan had told him he paid a five-figure sum to Mr Martin, but it did not draw any conclusions about it or examine the allegation in any detail.

It pointed out that it “didn’t seek to establish the truth of every piece of information” provided by Mr Gilmartin.

To have done so “would have resulted in enormously prolonged inquiries” which in many instances would have yielded “no definite result”.

In a statement issued after Mr Gilmartin had given the evidence at the tribunal, Mr Martin described the allegation as an “outrageous lie”. Mr Martin’s counsel criticised the tribunal for its handling of Mr Gilmartin’s evidence.

At the time, Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal, said the allegation had been made close to the end of Mr Gilmartin’s evidence, the tribunal was unaware it was going to be made and there was little more it could have done on the day.

In all, Mr Martin was mentioned only eight times in yesterday’s report.

Most of the references were in relation to a political donation made by Mr O’Callaghan to Mr Martin in June 1991.

At the time, Mr Martin was a local councillor and the donation was made toward his campaign in the local elections.

It was made through Mr O’Callaghan’s company, Riga Ltd. The report said the political contribution was identified as “exactly that” in the half-year accounts of the company.

It was later compared in the report to other payments made by Mr O’Callaghan for the purposes of identifying what a “bona fide” donation looked like.

A separate sum of £1,000 was paid towards a secondary school project by Riga in 1989 and was “referable to” Mr Martin, the report said.

And in July, 1993, O’Callaghan Properties Ltd paid £5,000 to the Atlantic Pond Fund charity, also at the request of Mr Martin.