Mr Mark Kavanagh, the developer of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), is expected to be questioned by the Moriarty tribunal next week about a donation of £25,000 to the late Mr Brian Lenihan's liver transplant fund. Mr Kavanagh gave the money in 1989, two years after a consortium led by Hardwicke Ltd, his development company, was awarded the contract by Mr Charles Haughey's government to develop a £250 million financial services centre in Dublin.
The developer could be called to give evidence as early as next week, as the tribunal plans to finish its inquiries into the money raised for Mr Lenihan's operation before the summer break. The other two members of the Hardwicke consortium were McInerney Properties and British Land, the UK property group. Mr Dan McInerney, the then chairman of McInerney's, is also on the list of people approached to make a donation to the Lenihan fund. The contract to develop the IFSC was awarded after a tender process in which eight consortiums participated. The plan to develop a financial services centre in Dublin's docklands was part of Fianna Fail's 1987 election manifesto, and financier Mr Dermot Desmond is credited with convincing the party to adopt the project.
The concept depended on encouraging offshore financial operations to locate in Dublin through a combination of tax breaks, advanced telecommunications and low labour costs. Hardwicke was viewed in some quarters as a surprise winner, seeing off a number of large UK developers, including Taylor Woodrow.
The Moriarty tribunal was told last week that Mr Kavanagh was one of a number of people approached in mid-1989 by Mr Paul Kavanagh, a Fianna Fail fundraiser, to contribute to the costs of a liver transplant for Mr Lenihan. He was one of a list of 16 people approved by Charles Haughey, the then taoiseach. Mr Kavanagh was asked to contribute £20,000, but actually forwarded £25,000 to Ms Eileen Foy, who was then Mr Haughey's private secretary, the tribunal was told. The tribunal had served a witness summons on Mr Kavanagh, but he had not responded. His solicitor told the tribunal that he had only received it the night before and was available to answer questions. Neither Mr Kavanagh nor his solicitor was available for comment last night. The Moriarty tribunal sits again next Wednesday and it is likely that the property developer will be called then.
The Moriarty tribunal has established that around £180,000 was raised in the period between May and June 1998 for Mr Lenihan's transplant and lodged in the Fianna Fail party leader's account. To date, only £82,000 of this money has been shown to have been withdrawn for Mr Lenihan's benefit.
Mr Kavanagh is well-known in racing circles and was the founder of Captain America's, the first burger restaurant in Ireland, which opened on Grafton Street in 1971. Hardwicke has extensive property holdings in Dublin apart from its interests in the IFSC. Earlier this year, it paid £12 million for a 1.33-acre site at Ringsend on which it plans to develop offices and apartments. It paid an additional £4.3 million for an adjoining office block.
