Sinn Féin councillor dismisses Gilmartin charge as 'blatant lie'

MAHON TRIBUNAL:SINN FÉIN Cllr Christy Burke told the Mahon tribunal yesterday he would take a lie detector test to prove he had never met Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin.

Mr Gilmartin had said that Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan had taken him to a pub in Clondalkin, in October 1990, where they met three men wearing dark glasses. One of the men said he was a Sinn Féin representative and warned Mr Gilmartin there was a file on him and he should get out of Ireland.

Mr Gilmartin later identified the Sinn Féin representative as Mr Burke, when he saw a photo of him in 2004.

Mr Burke said yesterday that when he received a letter from the tribunal asking him if he met Mr Gilmartin in a pub in Clondalkin he was shocked and very angry.

"It was a blatant lie," Mr Burke said. He took exception to the allegation that he had been in a pub because, he said, he had only been in a public house two or three times in the last 30 years.

He also pointed out that he represented the inner city and would have no reason to be in Clondalkin. And he said he never met Mr Gilmartin or Mr O'Callaghan.

Counsel for the tribunal, Patricia Dillon SC, asked Mr Burke if he was disputing all of the allegations made by Mr Gilmartin.

"I'm willing to take a lie detector, I'm disputing it that much," Mr Burke said.

He also asked the tribunal to note that Mr Gilmartin had never made the allegation outside the protection of tribunal privilege and if he could find a way of taking him to court, he would.

Mr Burke said when Mr Gilmartin had looked at the photos, he must have confused him with a Sinn Féin activist in Clondalkin, John McCann.

The tribunal heard that Mr McCann said he met Mr Gilmartin, Mr O'Callaghan and lobbyist Frank Dunlop in the Jensen Hotel in Clondalkin in April 1991 to discuss the Quarryvale plan.

Former chairman of the Quarryvale Residents' Association Pat Jennings told the tribunal that he was present at a meeting in Clondalkin with Mr O'Callaghan, Mr Gilmartin and Mr Dunlop and Mr McCann in April 1991.

He recounted that the meeting was initially positive, but the tone changed when Mr Gilmartin began to recount his planning problems.

Mr Gilmartin told them he had paid £50,000 to a senior politician and was about to name the politician, but then exclaimed "Jesus Owen, what are you kicking me for", having received a kick on the shins under the table, Mr Jennings said.

Mr Jennings said he was not and never had been a member of Sinn Féin, as had been implied by Mr Dunlop. And he also took exception to Mr Dunlop not remembering his name and referring to him as a "lanky, wispy-bearded individual".

Mr McCann, who also took the stand, said he only ever met Mr Gilmartin in the Jensen Hotel in April 1991 and did not threaten him. He told the tribunal he attended the meeting as secretary of the Quarryvale Residents' Association. He said he did not discuss his politics with Mr Gilmartin, who arrived late and "a bit flustered".

He said Mr Gilmartin ranted loudly about politicians and "how they were a bunch of corrupt bastards" and he remembered the kick Mr Gilmartin got on the shins.

"It was funny at the time," he said.

He also said Mr Gilmartin told him he had set up a unit for alcoholics in Luton and he admired him for that.

"He was a sound guy, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about him," he said.

Ms Dillon pointed out that Mr O'Callaghan denied Mr Gilmartin's account of a meeting in a Clondalkin pub in October 1990.

Mr McCann said he'd met Mr Dunlop on a few occasions at City Hall. He said he would have pursued anyone who he thought might bring a few jobs to his area. Ms Dillon asked if he ever got a donation from Mr Dunlop.

"Never did, never asked, never got," Mr McCann responded. "I never had any need to go with a begging bowl for me."