The Mahon tribunal was today told that a man purporting to be the chief investigating officer into Mr Tom Gilmartin's allegations of planning corruption in west Dublin told the property developer the people he was naming had been previously investigated and that no wrong-doing had been found.
The man who phoned Mr Gilmartin at his home in Luton in March 1989 called himself "Garda Burns" and had knowledge of interviews given by the builder to Chief Supt Hugh Sreenan who was part of the team investigating the bribery allegations, the tribunal heard.
In a statement to the tribunal, Supt Burns denied making the calls and Mr Gilmartin today indicated the man referred to himself as "Garda Burns" and he could not say if this was the same person as the superintendent.
Mr Gilmartin had told Chief Supt Sreenan that people in authority, including elected representatives, had been attempting to extort money from him.
At around the same time, he had told the-then environment minister Mr Pádraig Flynn and senator Mr Willie Farrell of his concerns and both had suggested he allow the gardaí pursue the matter and that he should "keep quiet". Mr Flynn had said: "I can well imagine what is going on here," Mr Gilmartin claimed.
A day after giving a phone statement to Chief Supt Sreenan on March 9th, Mr Gilmartin recieved a call from "Garda Burns". He was told that gardaí were "sick and tired" of people like Mr Gilmartin making allegations and that he should go back to where came from. These people had previously been investigated and, the caller said, they had "emerged with their names unsullied".
In a subsequent interview with Chief Supt Sreenan, Mr Gilmartin angrily said he would not likely assist the investigation because little could be proved. "I'm not going to be used," he said.
Some people in west Dublin may be housebreakers "but they are being left there to rot" by their public representatives, Mr Gilmartin told the Garda in a statement of March 20 th.