Fine Gael councillor tells of €10,000 payment

A Fine Gael councillor has told the Mahon tribunal she received a £10,000 consultancy payment for advising a company director who she had supported some years earlier in a land rezoning motion.

Anne Devitt said she had provided advice on bio-cycle systems to Michael McGuinness, a director of a company called Neptune Freight between 1994 and 1997. Neptune Frieght was part of a consortium which owned a 24-acre site near Dublin airport, known as the Cargobridge lands, which is currently under investigation by the tribunal.

In 1993 Ms Devitt was one of a number of councillors on the former Dublin County Council who signed a motion calling for the rezoning of these lands for industrial purposes.

The tribunal also heard yesterday that in another capacity as a solicitor with Noel Smyth and Partners, Ms Devitt had handled a file in relation to Abervanta Ltd, a mystery company which formed part of the consortium which owned the Cargobridge lands.

The tribunal believes that Ciaran Haughey, son of former taoiseach Charles Haughey, was one of the secret beneficial owners of Abervanta.

Giving evidence yesterday, Ms Devitt said that it was "sheer co-incidence" that she dealt with the Abervanta file when she worked for Noel Smyth and Partners.

She also said that when dealing with Dublin County Council in relation to a client, she always made it clear that she was working on behalf of a client rather than as a councillor.

Ms Devitt said that she supported the Cargobridge rezoning plan. She believed that the project had widespread backing because it would create employment. However she said that she had never discussed the issue with the lobbyist Frank Dunlop who had been retained by the consortium.

She believed the area around the airport was an engine that could drive development on the northside of Dublin. She had totally disagreed with the idea that "the dead hand" of Aer Rianta should stretch for 2,500 acres around the airport.