Witness told Lawlor 'where to go'

Former Fianna Fail TD Mr Liam Lawlor looked for a 20 per cent stake in Mr Tom Gilmartin's development at Quarryvale, the developer has alleged.Mr Gilmartin said Mr Lawlor made the request twice and warned him that he wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't agree.

He said he considered the demand "grossly exorbitant" and told Mr Lawlor "where to go".

According to Mr Gilmartin, Mr Lawlor asked for the stake for the first time during a visit to the Quarryvale site in autumn 1988. No one else was present. "I said: 'Do you realise what you're asking for?'" On the second occasion, Mr Gilmartin said he and an associate, Mr Richard Foreman, visited the politician's constituency office at his home in Lucan. Mr Lawlor took them to a garage where he showed them "colour-coded maps of every piece of land in west Dublin".

After Mr Foreman went out the door, Mr Lawlor called Mr Gilmartin back, according to the witness. "He said he had to have a 20 per cent stake, otherwise I wasn't going anywhere." Asked what reply he gave, Mr Gilmartin said he couldn't repeat it before the tribunal. He told Mr Lawlor "where to go".

Mr Lawlor, representing himself, said Mr Gilmartin was now saying he (Lawlor) had made this demand twice, yet his statement to the Mahon tribunal referred to only one demand. At this point, no one knew about Mr Gilmartin's plans for Quarryvale, so how could he (Lawlor) look for something he knew nothing about?