Former Fine Gael minister Seán Barrett has said he is a wholly innocent man who has been traduced by unfounded allegations aired at the planning tribunal, writes Paul Cullen
Mr Barrett said he had endured an "absolutely horrible" experience as a result of the "total misrepresentation of the facts" in his case.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, he warned environmental activist Michael Smith, who told the tribunal earlier this month about an allegation involving Mr Barrett, that if he repeated the allegations in public "we'll meet in court".
Mr Smith alleged during his evidence that a property developer, the late Phil Monahan, told him in the early 1990s that plans by his company, Monarch Properties, to rezone Cherrywood in south Dublin would go through because he was paying councillors.
Mr Smith claimed that Mr Monahan had told him that Mr Barrett would ensure that his Fine Gael colleagues from outside the area voted for the rezoning. He alleged Mr Monahan said he was close to Mr Barrett and that Mr Barrett insured his racehorses.However, Mr Smith said Mr Monahan had a mischievous twinkle in his eye and he agreed it was a possibility that the developer was seeking to discredit an opponent.
The tribunal called Mr Barrett to give evidence several weeks before Mr Smith but did not question him about this allegation.
Yesterday, Mr Barrett said that if he had given evidence after Mr Smith, he would have been able to answer all the allegations concerning him in public.
Mr Barrett said he never insured Mr Monahan's racehorses, he never arranged for Fine Gael councillors to vote for the rezoning and he never received money from Mr Monahan, who he didn't know. He accused Mr Smith of leaking the allegation to the media even though he did not know whether it was true or not. Mr Smith had never approached him, never written to the Fine Gael leader and never contacted the Garda.
Mr Barrett said he had consistently spoken out and voted against the Cherrywood proposal. At the time, the area had no drainage, the line of the proposed south-east motorway had not been set and Dún Laoghaire was "dying on its feet".