The former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, yesterday told the Flood tribunal it had been his idea to draft a letter, which was to be sent to Dublin County Council, on behalf of Mr Michael Bailey, regarding the sale of land.
The land involved over eight acres in Swords, and Mr Redmond said he was anxious for the council to acquire it as an amenity. He said he had tried to persuade Mr Bailey to sell these lands and had drafted a letter on behalf of Mr Bailey to the council.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Desmond O'Neill, asked Mr Redmond why he had effectively written a letter to himself, since he had drafted the letter, the contents of which would have been decided by himself.
"This is a situation where I went to Mr Bailey to do something for the council," he said. He added that he had a zeal for open spaces and wished to acquire the land for the council, even though Mr Bailey had not wished to sell it.
On Thursday Mr Redmond said he had received up to £20,000 from Mr Bailey with regard to planning advice, but yesterday he said sale of the open space was not related to any money he had accepted.
Mr Redmond said telling the tribunal about the money paid to him was a painful experience as he felt he had betrayed friends. He said Mr Bailey was a great builder who only wanted to build houses and he felt he had betrayed him.
Mr Redmond told the tribunal he had been pressured into telling the truth. "In tribute to the chairman he knows his job and knows how to apply the screw. I felt it in my case."
"It would have gone to the grave with me if it wasn't for the tribunal. It was ghastly from my point of view," Mr Redmond said.
Earlier Mr Redmond said that during his various meetings with Mr Gogarty he had never met Mr Joseph Murphy jnr. This, he said, was despite the fact that Mr Gogarty had sworn he had met Mr Murphy. "I probably had never even heard of his name," he said.
Mr Redmond added that his relationship with Mr Bailey had nothing to do with the Murphy lands. He said he had last met Mr Gogarty because of press reports that lands had been sold through his intervention. He met Mr Gogarty to tell him he had nothing to do with the sale of the lands.