Journalist says Brian Lenihan said he met Gilmartin

Mahon Tribunal: Former minister Mr Brian Lenihan confirmed to a journalist that Mr Tom Gilmartin met Fianna Fáil ministers in Leinster House, the Mahon tribunal heard yesterday.

Ms Freda Kelly, who was editor of the Newswest newspaper in Dublin in the 1980s and 1990s, said Mr Lenihan, now deceased, told her in 1989 there was a meeting between Mr Gilmartin and the ministers and that he was present.

Ms Kelly said she could remember exactly what Mr Lenihan told her when she sounded him out.

"He said: 'Yes, yes, they did, and I was there'." Asked whether she was certain Mr Lenihan confirmed the meeting, she replied : "Without doubt."

Mr Gilmartin alleges he was subjected to a £5 million extortion demand after he met the then taoiseach and seven of his ministers in Leinster House in February 1989.

Mr Lenihan's sister, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, is the only minister to say the meeting took place; others whom Mr Gilmartin says were present either assert that they cannot recollect the meeting or say it never happened.

Ms Kelly said she contacted Mr Lenihan after Mr Gilmartin had told her he'd been to the Dáil and that he had met "the whole lot of them in Dáil Éireann".

Only someone who lived abroad, as Mr Gilmartin did, would refer to the Dáil as "Dáil Éireann", she said.

Mr Gilmartin had told her that Mr Charles Haughey, Mr Bertie Ahern, Mr Lenihan, Mr Pádraig Flynn, Mr Ray Burke and Mr Séamus Brennan had been present at the meeting. These were the only names she could be certain about.

Ms Kelly described Mr Lenihan as a friend who was always accessible. She was in contact with him from time to time.

Newswest, a freesheet, covered Dublin 15, including the Blanchardstown area, where the idea of a town centre had long been on the agenda but was not making much progress.

With the threat of a rival shopping centre looming at Quarryvale, she contacted its developer, Mr Owen O'Callaghan, about his plans.

Mr O'Callaghan told her he was developing Quarryvale jointly with Mr Gilmartin.

Some time later, Mr Gilmartin rang her from his home in Luton. He outlined his plans for Quarryvale and spoke of the "bureaucratic" difficulties he was experiencing.

Aside from talking about his meeting in the Dáil, Mr Gilmartin said Mr Liam Lawlor was providing consultancy services for the project, she said. The words he used were: "Mr Lawlor is on board."

In a lengthy phone call, Mr Gilmartin told her he had been "financially helpful" to Fianna Fáil.

He did not refer to any improper demand for £5 million having occurred after the meeting with ministers, she told Ms Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal.