Gilmartin denies he recommended Lawlor involvement

A senior executive of Arlington Securities, the British property company that tried unsuccessfully to develop Bachelor's Walk in Dublin, has contradicted Mr Tom Gilmartin over Mr Liam Lawlor's involvement.

Mr Gilmartin was representing the firm in Ireland in the late 1980s during their unsuccessful attempts to build a £100 million shopping centre along the River Liffey.

Former chairman Mr Ted Dadley and chief executive Mr Raymond Mould are to give evidence to the tribunal tomorrow.

According to Mr Dadley's statement, Mr Gilmartin recommended that Arlington employ the former Fianna Fail Dublin West TD as a consultant.

But Mr Gilmartin has already told the tribunal he advised against employing Mr Lawlor because he was a "gangster" and a "hustler" who was "just there to screw money out of us." He said Mr Lawlor arrived uninvited at a meeting of Arlington in London in May 1988, demanding to be paid or the project would collapse. Mr Gilmartin claims he told Arlington to have "nothing to do with him".

However, Mr Dadley, in a statement dated March 22 ^nd, 2004, gives a contradictory version of events.

"When [Mr Gilmartin] suggested, as he did, that Arlington should have some political PR prowess and that they could take on board as a consultant Liam Lawlor because he was useful to keeping the government on side and keeping this major project focused on a continuous basis as a matter of priority, I went along with this proposal," he said. "I told Mr Gilmartin that it was his job as a 20 per cent shareholder to use Mr Lawlor's service as he considered appropriate."

He said Mr Lawlor asked for a retainer of £3,500 per month, and this was paid for ten months through Mr Gilmartin's bank account.

Mr Dadley said the Bachelor's Walk project was Arlington's first foray into the Irish property scene and the company was therefore wholly reliant on Mr Gilmartin's advice as to who was needed to bring the project to fruition.

Mr Mould, in his statement, says Mr Lawlor was employed to "help us through the corridors of power". He insisted the payments were for consultant's fees and "in no way political donations." Mr Lawlor was paid a total of £57,500 by Arlington in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mr Gilmartin this morning reiterated his denials that he recommended Mr Lawlor. "That suggestion did not come from me," he said. "I'm not sure if it's a lapse of memory, but that statement is certainly incorrect...As a matter of fact, it was the reverse. I objected to Mr Lawlor."