Tribunal 'risked interfering' in poll by circulating documents

Ahern counsel:Counsel for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Mahon tribunal yesterday it had created a serious risk of interfering with the democratic process when it circulated documents relating to Mr Ahern prior to the election.

At the resumption of the Quarryvale II module, Conor Maguire SC told the tribunal that it was very difficult to understand why the tribunal had circulated the documents when it was inevitable that they would be leaked to the press.

"Notwithstanding the warnings, the tribunal went ahead with the circulation and, as we all know, the inevitable happened," he said.

He said the tribunal was being used in a malicious campaign against Mr Ahern and there was no evidence to support false allegations made by Thomas Gilmartin that Mr Ahern had received payments from Owen O'Callaghan in relation to the Quarryvale lands.

"These allegations by Mr Gilmartin are part of a pattern of malicious and false allegations made against Bertie Ahern over the past seven years," he said.

"The tribunal is aware from detailed and lengthy correspondence of the very serious concerns my client has expressed concerning the existence of a malicious campaign against him and the use of the tribunal by third parties for that purpose.

"Despite these concerns, the tribunal has failed either to adequately respond to my client or to take any steps to investigate these matters."

Mr Maguire said that in the Quarryvale I module, the tribunal's counsel led Mr Gilmartin's evidence but failed to conduct any cross-examination of Mr Gilmartin. "This was despite the fact, unbeknownst to any of the other legal representatives present, that the tribunal had in its possession prior inconsistent statements from Mr Gilmartin," he said.

"Let me be very clear about this. A similar approach will not suffice on this occasion. The tribunal counsel must, in fairness, deal with Mr Gilmartin in a similar way to other witnesses."

He said if the tribunal did not conduct a "vigorous and thorough cross-examination", it would run the "real risk of a perception that it is not outcome-neutral, that it has a preferred outcome in mind and that not all witnesses will be treated equally and that Mr Gilmartin is, for some reason, being accorded preferential status".

He outlined "very damaging and demonstrably false allegations" repeatedly made against Mr Ahern and said the tribunal had failed to investigate a concerted effort to damage him.

The allegations included one involving Denis Starry O'Brien, who said he had paid £50,000 to Mr Ahern on behalf of Owen O'Callaghan, developer of the Quarryvale lands. He said his client disproved the allegations and brought defamation proceedings against Mr O'Brien.

"He [Mr Ahern] demonstrated that Mr O'Brien had not only made false allegations but also had falsified documents in an attempt to support them," he said. "The fact that such serious allegations have been proved to be false should have alerted the tribunal of the possible existence of a co-ordinated malicious and damaging campaign against him."

In relation to the deposit of £28,772.90 made by Celia Larkin into an AIB account in December 1994 and other lodgments, Mr Maguire said the tribunal had postulated theories and had engaged in speculation and hypothesis based on inappropriate foreign exchange rates for the sums of money involved.

"The tribunal has no documentary or other evidence from the bank to support these hypotheses and they did not even put some of these suggestions to the bank witnesses during the interviews which have been circulated," Mr Maguire said.

"In cross-examination of my client during private hearing, the tribunal put forward the theory that this lodgment relates to a sum of US$45,000 at the applicable rate of exchange on the day.

"This was a completely fanciful suggestion made without any supporting evidence and without any allegation to that effect having been made to the tribunal."

The tribunal may address Mr Maguire's comments today. Mr Gilmartin will also give evidence.