Wright says £15,000 was political donations

FORMER FIANNA Fáil TD GV Wright has denied that payments totalling £15,000 he received from lobbyist Frank Dunlop and Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan were anything other than political donations.

He told the Mahon tribunal that he was given £5,000 from Mr O'Callaghan and £5,000 from Mr Dunlop on the same day in November 1992, when they called to his office in Malahide, north Dublin.

He also received £2,000 from Mr Dunlop in June 1991 in the Dáil bar wrapped in a copy of The Irish Timesnewspaper, he said. A further £3,000 was received in 1993 from Mr Dunlop.

He did not provide receipts for the contributions, he said.

Pat Quinn SC said Mr Dunlop had told the tribunal he made the 1991 contribution to Mr Wright for his support of Quarryvale, the project he was employed by Mr O'Callaghan to promote.

However, Mr Wright said all of the monies he received were unsolicited political contributions.

Mr Quinn asked if he thought it was unusual to receive £2,000 in cash wrapped in a newspaper in the Dáil bar. Mr Wright said most political donations were made in cash in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "The system worked that way," he said.

He said when Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Dunlop called to his office on November 11th, 1992, most of the conversation was about the upcoming election.

However, the Quarryvale project was mentioned and the two men said they would appreciate Mr Wright's support for it.

Mr Wright pointed out that he was not present to vote on the Quarryvale development in May 1991. But he did vote for the development in December 1992.

Mr Dunlop had also told the tribunal that Mr O'Callaghan said he gave the £5,000 donation to Mr Wright on the advice of now Minister of State Batt O'Keeffe. Mr Wright said the first time he heard the suggestion was at the tribunal.

The tribunal heard that in 1993 then minister for the environment Michael Smith said the planning process in Dublin County Council was "a debased currency".

Mr Wright said councillors were upset by the speech and a deputation had a meeting with Mr Smith. "It [Mr Smith's speech] had more to do with political rhetoric than substance," Mr Wright said.

He said he wondered why Mr Smith signed off on the development plan, if he believed it was debased.

"Do you believe that there was corruption in the Dublin County Council in 1991, 1992 and 1993?" Mr Quinn asked.

"I'm not sure," Mr Wright said. "I won't pre-empt the chairman."

On the day before Mr Dunlop and Mr O'Callaghan gave donations to Mr Wright, £70,000 was wired from Mr O'Callaghan's business Riga Ltd to Mr Dunlop.

Mr O'Callaghan's bookkeeper, Aidan Lucey, was questioned about the transfer by counsel for the tribunal Patricia Dillon.

She pointed out that a cheque had initially been written to pay Mr Dunlop, but this was stopped and the money sent by same-day electronic transfer.

She asked why the payment method had changed.

Mr Lucey said he had received a phone call from Mr O'Callaghan on November 10th telling him to transfer the money as Mr Dunlop "wanted it today".

The tribunal heard Mr Dunlop withdrew £55,000 in cash, on the same day. He had admitted to the tribunal that he kept this cash to pay politicians.

Mr Lucey also said he signed cheques including £5,000 given by Mr O'Callaghan to Mr Wright, £10,000 to Mr O'Keeffe and three contributions to Fianna Fáil totalling £100,000.

Mr Lucey said he did not query political donations with Mr O'Callaghan. He described himself as a "small fry" in the company.