Mahon Tribunal: Former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor blackmailed an English company into a consultancy deal after promising to take two years off the time it would take to develop a project in Dublin, the property developer, Mr Tom Gilmartin, told the Mahon tribunal yesterday.
Mr Gilmartin alleged that Mr Lawlor lied his way into a meeting with executives of the company, Arlington Securities, where he promised his involvement would make the difference between the project taking off or not.
Mr Lawlor arrived unannounced and uninvited at his (Gilmartin's) meeting in London with Arlington executives in May 1988, Mr Gilmartin said. "There's a gentleman downstairs who says he's invited to the meeting - a Mr Lawlor. Does anyone know him?" Mr Gilmartin recalled the Arlington executive who took the call as saying.
Mr Gilmartin said he told the others present he had met Mr Lawlor for the first time a few days previously. He didn't know what this was about.
It was decided to let Mr Lawlor come up. The TD duly arrived, pulled up a chair, and told the gathering that Mr Gilmartin had invited him.
Mr Gilmartin told the tribunal yesterday that Mr Lawlor was telling a blatant lie. He said he had never been so embarrassed in his life. But because there was "a situation where there were two Paddies in a room going to start an argument" he decided to "bite his tongue".
Mr Gilmartin said Mr Lawlor then claimed he had been appointed by the Government to look after Bachelor's Walk, which was "in his patch". Having him on board "would make the difference between getting the project off the ground or not", Mr Lawlor had claimed.
Mr Gilmartin then told the Arlington executives "this man is an f****** hustler".
At this stage, everyone stood up and he went for a cup of tea with Arlington chief executive Mr Ted Dadley in a nearby hotel. After half an hour, Mr Lawlor found them and said he had been hired as a consultant. He said Mr Gilmartin would have to give him half of his interest.
"You know what you can do, mate," Mr Gilmartin responded. "This isn't on," he told Mr Dadley.
Mr Gilmartin said Mr Lawlor had told blanket lies and had embarrassed him, but the TD told him to "forget it".
He knew the "roadblocks" that could hinder the development and he could take care of them.
Later, Mr Dadley told him that Mr Lawlor had sought a 20 per cent stake in the project and promised to take two years off the time it would take to bring it to fruition. Arlington appointed him because "he knew the wrinkles and he had total access to the government".
The company felt it had no option, said Mr Gilmartin. It was his opinion that Arlington was being blackmailed. Mr Lawlor originally sought £100,000 but it was agreed that Arlington would pay him £3,500 a month. Mr Lawlor had described these as consultancy fees.
Mr Gilmartin had earlier yesterday recalled his first meeting with Mr Lawlor, which took place in the Deadman's Inn in Palmerstown.
His bank manager had arranged for him to meet a garage owner, Mr Brendan Fassnidge, he recalled, but when he sat down at a table an unknown man pushed his way through the doors of the pub and came up to him.
The man introduced himself as "Liam Lawlor TD" and said he knew every patch of land in the area. He said he knew Mr Gilmartin was interested in buying land and offered to get him a map.
The witness said Mr Lawlor switched the conversation to Bachelor's Walk, the other development Mr Gilmartin was promoting at the time.
Mr Lawlor said he wanted to talk to Arlington but Mr Gilmartin said he would first have to ask the company when he met their executives later that week. This led to the politician's intervention in the London meeting.
