I have nothing to be ashamed of - Fox

Flood Tribunal: Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Tony Fox has said he has nothing to be ashamed of or to regret in his political career.

Completing his evidence to the tribunal yesterday, Mr Fox emphasised that he had never received anything from Mr Frank Dunlop apart from three bottles of wine at Christmas.

Mr Dunlop has alleged he paid Mr Fox £7,000 in return for his votes on rezoning motions in the 1990s.

Mr Fox conceded he would only have had a "rough idea" of the extent of the Jackson Way lands which were the subject of a rezoning motion he signed in 1997.

Judge Alan Mahon asked whether Mr Fox had sufficient knowledge of the lands, given that he was putting forward the rezoning.

He was "entirely dependent" on the developer who had drawn up the map as to what area of land was being rezoned.

Would it not have been appropriate to seek advice from planners and engineers in the council who were experts on the matter?

Mr Fox said he didn't think it would have been appropriate.

He said he believed the Jackson Way lands were owned by a British company. He had heard rumours about the involvement of Mr Liam Lawlor and Mr Jim Kennedy, but Mr Dunlop had told him the owners were a British company.

Mr Breffni Gordon, barrister, for Mr Fox, asked the witness to outline his personal circumstances and background.

Mr Fox said he was a tailor, and had seven grown-up children. He was born in Meath, and lived in North Wall and Inchicore, before settling in a council house in Rathfarnham in the 1970s.

A councillor since 1985, he bought his first car, a Nissan Micra, in 1996, paid for partly with the allowance he earned when he was made leas-cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council. The family took their first holiday in 1990.

Mr Gordon asked how much the Toyota Starlet cost. Judge Mahon pointed out that the car mentioned was a Nissan Micra. Mr Gordon said they were all "nun's cars" to him.

He asked the witness if he considered himself influential on the council. Mr Fox said he did his work thoroughly, and dealt with the issues which arose, but he wouldn't have been influential. He wouldn't be the person for someone with an "illegitimate purpose" in mind to approach.

Mr Sean Healy, a former chairman of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers (IACT), told the tribunal that Senator Don Lydon was a guest speaker at the organisation's annual conference on May 1st, 1992.

Mr Dunlop has said he paid Mr Lydon £3,000 on this day in return for signing the motion to rezone the Paisley Park lands in Carrickmines. His diary contains a reference to a meeting with the politician at 3.30 p.m. at the latter's office in St John of God's in Stillorgan.

However, Mr Healy said Mr Lydon addressed the IACT conference at 2.05 p.m. on the subject of "Europhobia". He would have stayed on the podium for the following speaker, and for an ensuing question-and-answer session, which was scheduled to end at 3.25 p.m.

Mr Healy said Mr Lydon also attended the drinks reception at the end of the conference, which started at around 5.30 p.m. He couldn't be sure if Mr Lydon was present in the hall in the intervening time.