A former leas-cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann who failed to declare a donation of IR£2,500 will be given community service to perform by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court subject to a report on his suitability for such work.
Liam Cosgrave pleaded guilty to knowingly furnishing a falsified donation statement where he failed to declare that he had received any donation exceeding IR£500 between May 15th and December 31st, 1997.
Defence counsel told Judge Katherine Delahunt that his career had ended as a result of the offence and he had since lost friends and been vilified in the press.
Cosgrave (49), of Merrion Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin, was elected to the Seanad in 1989. He is son of former taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and grandson of William T. Cosgrave, who was president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from December 1922 to 1932.
Garda Neil Clayton of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that legislation covering the period of May 1997 to December 1997 came into force obliging members of Seanad Éireann to furnish statements in relation to single donations exceeding IR£500 or donations from a single source which had a total exceeding IR£500.
The judge heard that the subject matter of the offence before her was a £2,500 cheque received by Cosgrave from a Mr Dunlop. Cosgrave spoke to gardaí by appointment in relation to the matter on June 8th, 2004, following an investigation by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Mr Luan O'Braonain BL, defending, said the cheque for £2,500 was received during the 1997 election period, which involved extensive campaigning and required that Cosgrave visit every local authority councillor in the country.
The judge told Cosgrave that his position as a legislator and member of the legal profession should have made him keenly aware of the ramifications of his actions.
She said that he had an unblemished history of public service that was now lost to him and that he had already suffered significantly in that he was no longer a minister or solicitor.
She said a custodial sentence "may not be appropriate in all the circumstances of this case" and said Cosgrave's expertise "may be better put to use in service to the community".
A report on his suitability for such work was ordered, and the sentence will be finalised on a date in May.