Dunlop claims FF councillor paid off colleagues

A Fianna Fáil county councillor was paying off his colleagues in return for their support for a rezoning vote, the lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop has suggested.

Mr Dunlop said Cllr Tony Fox told him he would "look after" certain of his colleagues in relation to the rezoning of land at Carrickmines in south Dublin.

Mr Dunlop said he took this to mean that Cllr Fox was remunerating party colleagues who supported the rezoning motions which came before Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council in December 1997 and January 1998.

Cllr Fox and Cllr Liam Cosgrave signed two motions proposing the rezoning of all of Jackson Way's land at Carrickmines, but these were unsuccessful. A separate motion, signed by Cllr Cosgrave and Cllr Betty Coffey, which proposed the rezoning of part of Jackson Way's land and an adjoining property owned by Mr Brian O'Halloran, Mr Gerard Kilcoyne and Prof Austin Darragh, was passed.

Mr Dunlop alleges he paid Cllr Fox a £5,000 bribe but Cllr Fox says he never received a penny from the lobbyist.

Mr Dunlop told the tribunal he held separate meetings with a number of councillors, including Cllr Fox, Cllr Cosgrave and Cllr Larry Butler, to review progress in advance of the rezoning vote.

Cllr Fox did not tell him the names of the colleagues he was going to "look after", he said. However, he had used this phrase on a number of occasions and it was applicable to "a system" (of bribery) which "worked".

"If you mentioned a name, he would say: 'Don't worry about him, he's alright'. On one occasion - not concerning this vote - he said about a councillor: 'He will do what I say'," Mr Dunlop told the tribunal.

However, Mr Dunlop said he didn't actually know whether Cllr Fox had remunerated any of his colleagues. Cllr Butler told him about the level of support among councillors for the motion, Mr Dunlop said. "He said Betty was being a bit difficult, trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. She was very anxious because it was known she had a personal family relationship with Brian O'Halloran." He discussed with Cllr Butler the possibility of him signing the motion, but he refused, Mr Dunlop said. Cllr Butler voted for the motion when it came before the council.

Mr Dunlop was requested to write down the names of the councillors he says Cllr Cosgrave and Cllr Fox told him were supportive. Mr Justice Flood ruled that politicians whose names were on the list would be informed of this fact, and lawyers for Cllr Fox and Cllr Cosgrave would be given the entire list that referred to them.

Mr Dunlop said he paid £2,000 in cash to Cllr Cosgrave in respect of the O'Halloran lands. Cllr Cosgrave had not requested the money. The money was paid on December 23rd, 1997, when Mr Dunlop also says he paid Cllr Cosgrave £2,500 in respect of the rezoning of the Jackson Way lands.

He regarded Cllr Cosgrave as a "helpful, informative and co-operative individual" with whom he had had many meetings.