Gilmartin denies he was treated for paranoia

Mahon tribunal:Developer Tom Gilmartin told the Mahon tribunal yesterday that he was never treated for paranoia. And he said the question showed how low the Taoiseach would stoop to cover up corruption. Mr Gilmartin, one of the main witnesses before the tribunal, is in his final days of cross-examination at the hearing.

Counsel for Bertie Ahern, Colm Ó hOisin SC, asked Mr Gilmartin about his mental health and drew his attention to comments made about him by banker Paul Sheerin. In an internal bank document written in October 1994, Mr Sheerin described him as "incoherent and paranoid".

Mr Gilmartin said it was understandable that Mr Sheerin would think so because he was a banker and didn't believe the corruption he had experienced was possible.

"Did anyone advise you to get some sort of medical treatment . . . if you were suffering from paranoia, incoherence or irrationality?" counsel asked.

"The answer is no, because I never needed any such treatment," the witness said. "There is nothing wrong with my psyche. Why are you trying to portray me as some kind of lunatic?"

Mr Ó hOisin highlighted another bank memo, written in May 1996, which described Mr Gilmartin as "difficult and irrational". "Obviously, it was a very difficult time of your life."

He listed the people against whom Mr Gilmartin had made allegations and the organisations he had said were against him, including members of the Government, councillors, the Garda and judges in England and Ireland.

"Have you ever discussed any of these issues and allegations that you have against the world with any medical adviser?" Mr Ó hOisin asked.

"No, I have no allegations against the world," Mr Gilmartin replied. "My evidence here and my appearance here is just another example of how low this country has sunk, when the Taoiseach . . . has to resort to this kind of tactic to try to silence me".

Mr Ó hOisin pressed him about his alleged anonymous callers and tried to pin down the information supplied by each caller. Mr Gilmartin said although at one stage he had a photographic memory with total recall, since his bypass operation in 1994, his memory was not what it used to be.

Michael Cush SC, counsel for former Fianna Fáil taoiseach Albert Reynolds, questioned Mr Gilmartin briefly, explaining the difficulties of defending his client against remarks by anonymous callers. He said there was no truth whatsoever in any of the rumours of wrongdoing Mr Gilmartin had aired, and Mr Reynolds did not receive £190,000 from developer Owen O'Callaghan. "He did not receive any sum whatsoever from Mr O'Callaghan, he was not on his payroll, he did not look after him, he did not take care of him in the manner that you have suggested."

John L O'Donnell SC, for Sinn Féin councillor Christy Burke, questioned Mr Gilmartin about his identification of his client as the man who threatened him in a pub in Clondalkin in 1991.

Mr Gilmartin had told the tribunal that he was taken to a pub in Clondalkin by Mr O'Callaghan where he met three men.

One of the men identified himself as a Sinn Féin representative and threatened him, and Mr Gilmartin later said this was Mr Burke. Mr O'Donnell said the man he met was in fact a Mr McCann, who was similar in appearance to Mr Burke.

He asked if the man he met had any identifying marks and when Mr Gilmartin said he did not, Mr O'Donnell said Mr Burke had a birthmark on his neck.

"I would be able to identify his teeth," Mr Gilmartin said.

The tribunal resumes on Tuesday.