Mr Colm McGrath is the councillor named at the Flood tribunal as having received £30,000 in return for rezoning lands at Lucan, west Dublin, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr McGrath was a Fianna Fail councillor for Clondalkin from 1985, but the party refused to ratify his selection for last year's local elections. He stood as an independent and was re-elected.
Mr McGrath was not named publicly in the evidence given by auctioneer Mr Willie Coonan, who wrote the name of the councillor on a sheet of paper which he handed to Mr Justice Flood.
However, The Irish Times understands that Mr Coonan has identified Mr McGrath as the councillor who demanded £50,000 in return for rezoning the lands. He eventually settled for two cash payments of £15,000.
Mr McGrath was not available for comment yesterday. A woman answering the phone at his home said he would not be back until Sunday. Mr McGrath, who runs a security company and an importing business, has received money from the Cork developer Mr Owen O'Callaghan, according to Mr O'Callaghan.
The attempted rezoning of the lands from agricultural to residential use caused considerable controversy in the early 1990s. In 1993, when the council was preparing its Draft Development Plan, Mr McGrath proposed the rezoning, which was passed by one vote.
However, in October 1993, after more than 2,500 representations had been received, councillors abandoned the rezoning after a 2 1/2-hour debate. Labour councillors claimed it was abandoned because the proposers didn't have enough votes to win.
