A solicitor and business partner of developer Mr Owen O'Callaghan has recalled his "shock" on hearing that a county councillor had allegedly sought £100,000 from rival developer Mr Tom Gilmartin. Paul Cullen reports.
Mr John Deane described Cllr Finbarr Hanrahan's alleged request, details of which were relayed to him by Mr O'Callaghan, as an "extraordinary demand".
"I couldn't believe someone could ask for £100,000 for his support. This was the first time I've ever heard of it and I was shocked about it." Mr Deane said he heard about the alleged demand from Mr O'Callaghan on the pavement outside Buswells Hotel, shortly after Mr Gilmartin emerged from a short meeting with Cllr Hanrahan in early 1989.
He recalled that earlier on the day of this encounter he and Mr O'Callaghan had a meeting with Mr Gilmartin in the latter's office on St Stephen's Green. Afterwards, the three men walked to the hotel bar, where Mr O'Callaghan pointed out Cllr Hanrahan to Mr Gilmartin.
Mr Gilmartin went over to meet Mr Hanrahan on his own, while he and Mr O'Callaghan had a coffee at the bar. After five or 10 minutes, Mr Gilmartin left and Mr O'Callaghan followed him out of the hotel.
Outside, Mr Deane said, he could see from Mr Gilmartin's face that something was wrong. He asked Mr O'Callaghan what was happening and was told Mr Gilmartin said Cllr Hanrahan had asked him for £100,000 in return for support.
As described to him, it was an "extraordinary demand" and one he would not forget. The event was "rather shocking", he agreed. He disagreed with Mr Gilmartin about the date of this meeting. It was "extremely unlikely" to be December 28th, 1988, as Mr Gilmartin had claimed. Mr Deane said he always went on holidays the week after Christmas.
Mr Gilmartin has told the tribunal he entered the hotel alone and that Mr Liam Lawlor and Mr Ambrose Kelly were also present in the bar. However, Mr Deane said this wasn't the case.
His evidence also clashed sharply with that of Mr Gilmartin in relation to a legal agreement signed by Mr Gilmartin and Mr O'Callaghan in early 1989. Mr Gilmartin has claimed to the tribunal that this agreement was falsified.
However, Mr Deane disagreed. In his statement, he said that Mr Gilmartin's allegations were "false and without foundation". These had had "profound implications" for himself, his family and his colleagues and it was "most unfair" that he had been given no prior notice of them.
Mr John Corcoran, founder of Green Property company, said George Redmond applied for and was offered a job with his company in 1985. However, he opted to stay on as assistant Dublin county manager and never took up the post.
In 1989, Mr Corcoran said he heard "on the street" that Mr Gilmartin was buying Dublin Corporation land in west Dublin as part of his development of a shopping centre at Quarryvale. He was "absolutely shell-shocked" on hearing Mr Gilmartin's plans, as Green Property had spent 15 years and £10 million developing a town centre at Blanchardstown and this would fail if his rival's project went ahead.
He rang Redmond, who confirmed the Corporation was planning to sell land to Mr Gilmartin. The official suggested he seek to tender for the lands for industrial use.
Ultimately, the Corporation did put out the lands to tender. Mr Gilmartin bought the lands after submitting a higher tender than Green Property, but had to pay £2 million more than he originally envisaged.
Mr Corcoran said Redmond was "receptive, informative and polite" and "a source of great help".
He said he had "no recollection" of Redmond working as a consultant or doing any other work for the company after his retirement in 1989.