Politician denies asking for £100,000

Former Fianna Fáil councillor Finbarr Hanrahan told the Mahon tribunal that he did not ask Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin for £100,000.

He denied receiving an election donation of £2,500 from lobbyist Frank Dunlop in 1992 or telling him, when asked to support the Quarryvale development, that "nothing can be done for nothing". He also denied asking Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan for money in advance of a crucial vote on Quarryvale in December 1992.

Mr Hanrahan told the tribunal that though he had told Mr Gilmartin he was opposed to the Quarryvale development and was publicly in support of development at the nearby Neilstown site in west Dublin, he signed a pro-Quarryvale motion in May 1991 so that it could be debated.

Judge Gerald Keys said there seemed to be a contradiction. "I would have thought that if you are against a project you do nothing to try to assist it," he said.

"I was trying to be fair . . . fair to the proposal itself," Mr Hanrahan responded.

In the run-up to the general election it became clear to him, he said, that locals in Lucan were against Quarryvale and he was also "directed" by the late Brian Lenihan to vote against the development, which he did, in December 1992.

Counsel for the tribunal, Pat Quinn SC, said Mr Dunlop told the tribunal he gave Mr Hanrahan £2,500 towards his general election campaign in November 1992 in the hope it might "bear fruit".

Mr Hanrahan said it would be much easier for him to acknowledge the donation, but it never happened.

Mr Quinn said Mr Dunlop also said Mr O'Callaghan told him that Mr Hanrahan had asked Mr Gilmartin for money.

"Because someone tells a lie to a number of people doesn't make it a truth," Mr Hanrahan responded. He also denied demanding money from Mr O'Callaghan in December 1992 on the day of a vote on Quarryvale.

Mr Quinn said Mr Dunlop recounted how the two men went for a walk and when Mr O'Callaghan returned he was "spitting fire". "He didn't seem angry when I was talking to him," Mr Hanrahan responded. He said he did not ask for money.

Former senator Don Lydon denied he was ever visited by Mr Dunlop at home or that Mr Dunlop gave him £1,000 in the car park of Dublin County Council before the local elections in 1991.

He said Mr Dunlop did give him an unsolicited political contribution of £1,000 in 1993 before the Seanad elections.

Mr Quinn read into the record notes of phone messages left for Mr Dunlop in October 1992. One appeared to be from Mr Lydon with details of directions to his home. Mr Quinn asked if Mr Dunlop had visited him at home on October 7th, 1992. Mr Lydon said the visit never happened and that he had moved out of that house in May or June that year, though he was not sure if the house had actually been sold.

Mr Quinn pointed out that Mr Dunlop withdrew £3,000 cash from a bank account on October 7th and that Mr Lydon lodged £1,900 to his account the following day. He asked if Mr Dunlop gave Mr Lydon money when he came to his house.

"He has never been to my house," Mr Lydon replied.