Dunlop to allege more payments

The lobbyist and former government press secretary Frank Dunlop has said he paid three councillors for their support in securing the rezoning of lands at Cloghran near Dublin airport in 1993.

The planning tribunal heard yesterday that Mr Dunlop will say he paid £1,000 each to Fianna Fáil councillors Tony Fox and the late Cyril Gallagher.

He will also say he gave £2,000 to Cllr Seán Gilbride of Fianna Fáil as a composite payment to cover his support for both the airport lands and another project.

It emerged yesterday that at a private interview with the tribunal in 2000 about the airport lands, Mr Dunlop had said he had made payments to "the usual recipients". At the time he had also named two other councillors as receiving money and suggested that Mr Gallagher had received £2,000.

In an opening statement of a new module of investigation into the rezoning of the lands, known as Cargobridge, counsel for the tribunal Pat Quinn SC said that Mr Gilbride has acknowledged receiving political donations from Mr Dunlop but denies getting payments in connection with Cargobridge.

He said Mr Fox has no particular recollection of the rezoning of the lands and denies ever receiving money from Mr Dunlop. He said Mr Gallagher, in his lifetime, denied ever receiving improper payments.

Mr Quinn said Mr Dunlop will say he was retained by the consortium that owned the Cargobridge land to secure rezoning from agriculture to industrial purposes.

He said the lobbyist will maintain he received £10,000 in cash from Michael McGuinness, one of the consortium members.

He will contend that Mr McGuinness knew some councillors would require money for their votes.

Mr Quinn said this has been denied by Mr McGuinness who has stated that Mr Dunlop was retained to advise on negotiation of a right of way with the Department of Transport. Mr McGuinness maintains that Mr Dunlop received only £3,000.

Mr Dunlop will tell the tribunal he did not obtain any signatures for a motion to rezone the Cargobridge lands, which was lodged with Dublin County Council in February 1993. He will also say he did not draft the rezoning motion.

The motion was signed by councillors Anne Devitt, Cyril Gallagher, Michael Kennedy, GV Wright, Liam Creaven, Michael Joe Cosgrave and Sheila Terry. The motion succeeded by 51 votes to nil.

The tribunal heard that Mr McGuinness had advised it he was about to travel the world and would not be available to give evidence.

Michael Joe Cosgrave said yesterday he believed that the area near the airport had been ideal for a freight business and that he did not know the owners of the land.

Cllr Kennedy said he believed it was proper to have warehousing sited close to the airport and the motorway system. He doubted he had asked about the owners of the land and said that land usage was his priority.

Senator Don Lydon, who had been initially identified by Mr Dunlop as receiving money for supporting the project, said he could categorically confirm he never got any payments.