A decision to donate £50,000 to Fianna Fáil resulted in the bankruptcy and destruction of Tom Gilmartin, the property developer told the tribunal yesterday.
He said he made the £50,000 payment through party treasurer Pádraig Flynn, to stop the "games" being played by Fianna Fáil members and others who were trying to thwart his plans to develop the Quarryvale shopping centre in west Dublin. However, he was later told that Fianna Fáil had never received the cheque.
Mr Gilmartin accused rival property developer Owen O'Callaghan of manipulating Dublin city councillors to frustrate his project, and said former assistant Dublin city manager George Redmond and others tried to block his plans.
"I had a substantial amount of money at stake and I was being thwarted," he said.
Mr Gilmartin said he paid the money to Mr Flynn solely because he was party treasurer. He denied the money was to ensure tax designation and said that was not a matter for Mr Flynn's department.
Asked why he would give Fianna Fáil a donation when he believed its members were corrupt, he said, "I assumed there were some honourable people in there, and perhaps I might get justice - which I didn't."
He said the least he expected from the donation was that the government would control its members so that they were not "soldiers of fortune, instead of soldiers of destiny".
"I was dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáil from birth, from my father," he said.
Paul Sreenan SC, counsel for for Owen O'Callaghan, asked what Mr Gilmartin had gained from the donation.
"I got myself bankrupted. I got myself destroyed because your client had far more clout than me," he replied.
Mr Gilmartin insisted it was not a bribe and "for the millionth time" told Mr Sreenan that the cheque was for Fianna Fáil, not for Mr Flynn.
"So you can go on and on 'til hell freezes over, Mr Sreenan, trying to associate me with bribery and corruption but you will not . . . because I did not bribe anyone . . . and it cost me. Boy did it cost me."Asked by Mr Sreenan if he thought the £50,000 donation was illegal, Mr Gilmartin said "your client [Owen O'Callaghan] would be in jail for the rest of his life" if political donations were illegal.
He said he had four meetings with Bertie Ahern, who was then minister for labour, over the problems surrounding his Quarryvale project. "He was well aware of the games that were going on," he said.
That was why he sent in his associate, Joe Burke, who was a Dublin city councillor at the time, to resolve the situation, Mr Gilmartin said. The tribunal has already heard a claim from MrGilmartin that Mr Burke suggested he make a £500,000 payment to Mr Ahern for his help on the project.
The tribunal resumes on September 11th.
