Taoiseach says he had three meetings with Gilmartin

Other Gilmartin meetings: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said he never discussed Mr Tom Gilmartin's plans to build a massive shopping centre at Quarryvale in his meetings with the developer.

Mr Ahern had three meetings and one phone call with Mr Gilmartin, he told the tribunal yesterday.

He said he first met Mr Gilmartin in his constituency office above Fagan's pub in Drumcondra on October 10th, 1988. He remembered the meeting well because Mr Gilmartin was proposing a substantial development at Bachelor's Walk, which was in his constituency. Three days later, a wider meeting involving officials was arranged to give Mr Gilmartin the opportunity to outline his plans.

Mr Ahern said he "vaguely recollected" a third meeting in September 1989, when Mr Gilmartin called into his Dáil office. This took place on the same day Mr Gilmartin and Arlington executives were meeting other ministers in the Dáil.

It was put to him that Mr Gilmartin had said the two men met in 1987, but Mr Ahern said he was "positive, certain and definite" that they first met above Fagan's in October 1988.

Mr Gilmartin was the biggest developer he had met and he was talking about bringing hundreds of millions in investment into his constituency.

If he had known about the scale of the proposed development, he wouldn't have met him on a Monday morning in a constituency clinic.

Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, pointed out that Mr Ahern had told newspapers in 1999 that he could recall only one meeting with Mr Gilmartin.

Mr Ahern said he had correctly identified their first meeting at this time, but without checking any diaries. "Stupidly" he had given a quick answer, but over the years he had learned to check things first.

Asked if he had communicated with anyone else about Mr Gilmartin's plans back in 1988, the Taoiseach said he could not specifically recollect. He would have been "generally supportive". Mr Gilmartin already had tax designation for Bachelor's Walk; he wasn't asking for anything.

Asked when he first discussed Quarryvale with Mr Gilmartin, he said he couldn't recall ever discussing this issue with the developer. It certainly didn't happen in the two meetings in October 1988, and the meeting in September 1989 from another meeting about Bachelor's Walk.

He didn't recollect discussing it with Mr Gilmartin on the phone although he accepted that he had advised the developer to contact a friend, Mr Joe Burke, who was on the council at the time. Quarryvale was outside his area and he didn't take any great interest in it, he said.

Mr Gallagher pointed out that the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, George Redmond, had referred in his statement to a meeting on September 21st, 1988 at which Quarryvale was discussed and Mr Ahern was present.

Mr Conor Maguire SC, for Mr Ahern, pointed out that his client was in Athens on business that day. However, Mr Gallagher responded that Mr Ahern's diary entry showed that he returned at 2.10 p.m. and he could therefore have attended a meeting in Dublin.