Redmond admits he received £27,000 in total from JMSE

Mr George Redmond has admitted that he received two payments from developers when he was retiring as assistant Dublin city and county manager in the late 1980s.

However, in a dramatic new statement furnished to the planning tribunal, Mr Redmond denies there was anything improper about the payments. He now says he was given £25,000 in cash by Mr James Gogarty of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering at a meeting in Clontarf Castle in the late 1980s.

Mr Redmond has come under intense pressure to co-operate with the tribunal since he was arrested two weeks ago on his return from the Isle of Man. Officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau seized £300,000 he was carrying in cash and bank drafts.

It is understood that the alleged payments he speaks about in his new statement were in connection with the provision of services on lands owned by JMSE at Forest Road, Swords.

However, giving evidence yesterday Mr Gogarty flatly rejected Mr Redmond's account of events.

In his original statement, Mr Redmond simply denied allegations by Mr Gogarty that he received two separate, substantial payments from JMSE. He now admits receiving a second payment of £2,000 from Mr Liam Conroy, a former chief executive of JMSE, around the same time as he received the £25,000.

It is understood that Mr Redmond argues that in each case the money was paid in return for services he provided. He rejects Mr Gogarty's allegation that he was bribed, and asserts that he did nothing wrong.

If it were found that Mr Redmond had made untrue or incomplete statements, the chairman, Mr Justice Flood, could make him liable for massive legal bills covering the cost of his own lawyers and those of the tribunal.

Sources close to Mr Redmond claimed his new statement did not conflict with the original statement he furnished to the tribunal shortly before Mr Gogarty began giving evidence in January.

In that statement, Mr Redmond denied receiving money from JMSE.

However, in his new statement he says he received money directly from Mr Gogarty. No one else was present. The statement was given to the tribunal in the past three weeks, but circulated to other parties only in the last few days.

Even if the two statements from Mr Redmond were found to be in conflict, Mr Redmond could not be charged with perjury. This is because he has furnished unsworn statements, rather than a sworn affidavit.

Mr Gogarty is the only witness to have submitted a sworn affidavit to the tribunal.

In his new statement, Mr Redmond says he introduced the developer, Mr Michael Bailey, to Mr Gogarty as someone who was interested in buying the lands at Forest Road, Swords.

Mr Redmond said he had a number of meetings with Mr Gogarty about these lands. The two men allegedly discussed how the provision of services such as lighting and sewerage might increase the value of the lands.

Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for JMSE, referred to an article which appeared in the Sunday Tribune early last year and which contained an allegation that Mr Gogarty gave a planning official £25,000 in connection with the renewal of planning permission on lands in Dublin. Mr Cooney said the report was "remarkably accurate."

"It appears to be, but isn't it a pity that it is so late in the day it is coming out?" Mr Gogarty replied.

Mr Gogarty repeated his allegation that Mr Joseph Murphy jnr gave Mr Redmond £15,000 as compensation for not being employed by JMSE as a consultant upon his retirement.

Mr Cooney completed his cross-examination of Mr Gogarty yesterday. The tribunal resumes next Thursday, when Mr Colm Allen SC, for Mr Bailey, will begin his cross-examination of the witness.