Dunlop denies money given to Wright was donation

Mr Frank Dunlop has contradicted a claim by Mr GV Wright TD that the only payment received from the lobbyist was a legitimate political donation of £3,000 in 1993.

In a statement to the Mahon tribunal last month, the Fianna Fáil TD denied receiving improper payments from Mr Dunlop. He said the only money he got was a contribution of £3,000 in October 1993 towards various political campaigns. Mr Wright ran unsuccessfully in the Dáil elections in November 1992 and Senate polls in January/February 1993.

But Mr Dunlop refuted the claim this morning. "Why would I give him a political donation in late 1993?" he asked. "I fail to see any circumstances when I would be giving money to any politician some eight months after an election campaign."

Mr G.V. Wright

Mr Dunlop insisted he actually gave Mr Wright a number of separate, undeclared payments towards election expenses, including £5,000 towards the 1992 General Election and £2,500 for the Senate campaign.

These payments were made "in the full knowledge" that Mr Wright was an important member of Dublin County Council whose support would be required in the future. He agreed with Ms Patricia Dillon, SC for the tribunal, that these were "improper payments".

The former Government press secretary earlier described giving Mr Wright a bribe of £2,000 so as "not to rub his nose in it" that the TD had failed to have a planning motion secured. He said Mr Wright was contacted by two north Dublin landowners, Mr Denis Mahony and Mr Noel Fox, in 1992 to secure rezoning motions for their land at Drumnigh, near Portmarnock. However, he failed in his efforts and recommended they contact Mr Dunlop instead.

Mr Dunlop said he subsequently contacted Mr Wright - with "a certain embarrassment" - to ensure he would continue to support the proposal. "He told me it would cost two grand," he said. Asked by Ms Dillon why he didn't refuse to pay, Mr Dunlop replied: "I didn't want to rub his nose in it...that he'd made a mess of things."

Mr Dunlop also described having to continuously lobby or pay councillors even if he knew they were usually supportive of him. "You never took anything for granted in Dublin County Council," he said. No matter what the issue, there were "certain parameters" that had to be observed. "You just had to keep ensuring that people were on-side and that they turned up to vote."

When asked by Ms Dillon why he felt it necessary to include the phrase "unsolicited donation" when referring in his statement to an election contribution of £1,000 to Cllr Michael J Cosgrave in 1997, Mr Dunlop said it was to differentiate between the large number of payments he was making during that period. "That probably reflected the atmosphere at the time," he said. "As soon as an election was called, the telephone would never stop ringing with people looking for money."

The tribunal also heard Mr Dunlop met Cllr Sean Gilbride on April 4th, 1993 to discuss the forthcoming appearance of Ms Annie Murphy, who had an affair with the Bishop of Galway, Dr Eamon Casey, on the Late Late Show. Mr Gilbride and a number of others - who were friends of Dr Casey's - had acquired audience tickets for the programme, and Mr Dunlop was asked to advise them on what they should say in support of the disgraced bishop.