THE FLOOD TRIBUNAL: A former planning official with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Mr Dermot Drumgoole, has denied to the tribunal that he met the lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop and the former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor in connection with the rezoning of lands in Carrickmines, Co Dublin.
Both Mr Dunlop and Mr Lawlor have told the tribunal that the three men did meet, but they disagree about the content of the meeting.
However, Mr Drumgoole said that he had no recollection of a meeting with the other two men and he certainly did not have a meeting as described by Mr Dunlop.
Mr Dunlop, in his evidence, said that the meeting in 1997, which was instigated by Mr Lawlor, was about the council's plans for rezoning land in the Carrickmines Valley.
The lobbyist was acting for two land-owners, Jackson Way and the businessmen Mr Brian O'Halloran, Mr Gerard Kilcoyne and Prof Austin Darragh.
Mr Lawlor has told the tribunal that he met Mr Drumgoole about a number of matters, including the Dublin port tunnel and its effects on the council area.
Mr Drumgoole said that the meeting, as described by Mr Dunlop, could not have taken place, as the venue referred to at Glasthule had been vacated at the end of 1996.
He acknowledged that there was a reference in his diary to a meeting with Mr Lawlor in October 1996, but he had no recollection of a meeting taking place.
The only land-owner he met was Mr O'Halloran, on two occasions.
The witness said that Mr Lawlor may have arranged meetings with him when he worked for Dublin County Council, but not during his time in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
He acknowledged knowing Mr Lawlor through Dublin hurling circles, but he added: "I knew Liam Lawlor as well any other Dublin county councillor, but no better."
After his retirement in 1998, Mr Drumgoole carried out work for Mr O'Halloran for a period. He said that he did not see any conflict of interest in this.
Dr Brian Meehan, a planning consultant who drew up submissions on behalf of Mr O'Halloran, said that he first worked for this client on the Telecom site in Ballsbridge in 1990.
Asked when he first became aware that Mr Kennedy owned the land adjoining Mr O'Halloran's property in Carrickmines, Dr Meehan said that this occurred around the time the tribunal was set up in 1997.
Later Mr Pat Quinn SC, for the tribunal, referred to a letter from Mr O'Halloran to Dr Meehan in which Mr Kennedy had been clearly identified as a neighbouring land-owner.
Dr Meehan accepted that he must have known about Mr Kennedy from 1991 onwards, but he insisted that the names of Mr Kennedy and his companies "didn't mean much to me" at that time.