CORK businessman Owen O’Callaghan has denied he leaked information about the financial difficulties of another developer, Tom Gilmartin, to two newspapers in the early 1990s.

OWEN O’CALLAGHAN did not pay £30,000 to Bertie Ahern in connection with planning, an associate of the Cork developer told the Mahon tribunal.

CORK businessman Owen O’Callaghan has described an allegation that he paid £50,000 to former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for assistance on a property development in west Dublin as “absolute and total rubbish”.

CORK developer Owen O’Callaghan admitted yesterday he had failed to inform gardaí about his knowledge of planning corruption, despite being aware of allegations of bribery against three politicians, including the late Liam Lawlor.

MAHON Tribunal lawyers yesterday expressed surprise that developer Owen O’Callaghan failed to ask Frank Dunlop if he had made paid bribes on his behalf after the political lobbyist admitted his role in planning corruption.

ONE of the Mahon Tribunal judges yesterday declared himself “puzzled” how the architect who designed the Liffey Valley shopping centre ran his business without keeping an office diary.

PADRAIG FLYNN paid nearly IR£23,000 in gift tax following a political donation of £50,000 from developer Tom Gilmartin, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

BEHIND every successful man there is a woman, it has been said.

PROPERTY developer Owen O’Callaghan probably gave an innocuous explanation when asked about a IR£10,000 political donation to Dublin county councillor Colm McGrath (FF) in October 1991, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

CORK-based property developer Owen O’Callaghan gave an instruction to transfer £70,000 to Frank Dunlop’s bank account in Dublin because the lobbyist needed the money immediately, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

CORK-BASED property developer Owen O’Callaghan can not account for a £10,000 payment made in connection with the Quarryvale project in west Dublin now under the spotlight, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

A SENIOR executive with Cork-based property developer Owen O’Callaghan’s company Riga Ltd told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday it was “quite normal” to sign cheques without knowing why they were being paid.

FORMER Fianna Fáil TD Marian McGennis yesterday rejected suggestion there was anything improper about her nomination to the Senate in February 1993 by former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

WHILE fighting for his political life, Minister of State Batt O’Keeffe said he received IR£10,000 from Cork-based property developer Owen O’Callaghan to help him contest the November 1992 general election.

FORMER State training boss Dr John Lynch denied at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he had sent a Dublin county councillor out of the country “on a junket”, that kept him from voting against the controversial Quarryvale shopping development in west Dublin.

PROPERTY developer Owen O’Callaghan picked up the tab when Fine Gael councillor Therese Ridge and lobbyist Frank Dunlop flew to Cork as part of her canvass for the 1993 Seanad election, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

BUSINESSMAN Noel C Duggan wanted better roads leading to his concert venue and equestrian centre in Millstreet, Co Cork — so he jumped at the chance to meet former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

FORMER agriculture minister Joe Walsh told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he was “surprised” to discover a private dinner he attended in Cork before St Patrick’s Day in 1994 was a Fianna Fáil party fundraising event.

LOBBYIST Frank Dunlop made a swift disclosure to the Revenue Commissioners — and sent a cheque for more than £243,000 — because he feared the planning tribunal would carry out a full probe into his affairs in 1998, it emerged yesterday.

TOP trainer Jim Bolger told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday a thoroughbred filly he sold to lobbyist Frank Dunlop for nearly £64,000 in 1992, broke her neck in collision with another horse on his stud farm the following year.

PUBLICAN Dermot Carew told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he handed over IR£16,500 in cash to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, with the comment: “Bert, the boys and myself want you to have that”.

AIB wanted Cork-based businessman Owen O’Callaghan on board the Quarryvale project in west Dublin in 1992 to protect its investment, it was claimed at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday.

PROPERTY developer Owen O’Callaghan bailed out Fianna Fáil councillor Colm McGrath — a major supporter of his Quarryvale project in west Dublin — when he couldn’t pay a debt, the Mahon Planning Tribunal heard yesterday.

FORMER Cork bookmaker Joe Donnelly told the Mahon Planning Tribunal yesterday he attended a private dinner in the company of former taoiseach Albert Reynolds on March 11, 1994.

FORMER lobbyist Frank Dunlop denied at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he raised a £20,000 bank loan 15 years ago and gave it to “a single, senior politician”.

LOBBYIST Frank Dunlop told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday how he invested £62,000 in a horse he had bought from his friend, well-known Carlow-based trainer Jim Bolger, 15 years ago — then forgot about the transaction.

CORK businessman Mitchel Barry was “puzzled and amused” at his invitation to a private dinner because he wasn’t told the name of the special guest of honour, the Mahon Tribunal has heard.

FORMER lobbyist Frank Dunlop was quizzed at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday on why he had lied in his evidence seven years ago over a payment of £40,000 to ex-Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor.

LONG-SERVING Fianna Fáil fundraiser Roy Donovan yesterday doubted that prominent businessman Owen O’Callaghan gave former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds £150,000 in Cork 13 years ago.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is facing a fraught canvass as he is likely to have to testify before the General Election at the Mahon Planning Tribunal into payment allegations.

FINANCE Minister Brian Cowen yesterday defended his backing for a commercial enterprise near Dublin Airport headed by a businessman from a Fianna Fáil family.

FORMER Monarch Properties executive Richard Lynn told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday allegations by Bill O’Herlihy and Frank Dunlop that the company bribed councillors were untrue.

A FORMER finance director of Monarch Properties development company strongly denied at the Mahon Planning Tribunal yesterday that mystery cash payments went to bribe county councillors.

NINE days before Dublin county councillors voted to rezone its lands, Monarch Properties issued a £15,000 cheque to lobbyist Frank Dunlop, the Mahon planning tribunal heard yesterday.

A GOVERNMENT party senator Ann Ormonde admitted to the Mahon Planning Tribunal yesterday she failed to tell a Fianna Fáil party probe she got political donations of nearly £3,000 from Monarch development company.

A FORMER Fianna Fáil councillor claimed at the Mahon planning tribunal yesterday the party whip on Dublin County Council was “in the pocket of developers” during the 1990s.

PUBLIC relations consultant Bill O’Herlihy is standing over his allegation that an executive with Monarch development company told him £100,000 (€126,973) had to be paid to councillors to get rezoning, the Mahon planning tribunal heard yesterday.

GOVERNMENT Senator Tom Morrissey yesterday told the Mahon planning tribunal he was offered a £30,000 bribe for his vote.

FORMER Government press secretary Frank Dunlop alleged at the Mahon planning tribunal yesterday that a school associate of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern paid him £5,000 in cash to lobby councillors.

Lawyers acting for the Mahon Tribunal have challenged evidence provided by former political lobbyist Frank Dunlop.

FORMER political lobbyist Frank Dunlop, who has admitted bribing Dublin county councillors, is due to give further evidence to the Mahon tribunal investigating planning corruption early next week.

PROPERTY developer, Tom Gilmartin, has told the Mahon Tribunal that he was informed Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was paid £80,000 by a millionaire businessman for planning favours during the mid-1990s.

THE late Liam Lawlor has been placed at the heart of planning corruption in Dublin after the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday that he was paid at least £153,000 in bribes by Frank Dunlop to support the controversial Quarryvale development in west Dublin.

POLITICAL lobbyist Frank Dunlop claims he paid the late Liam Lawlor £153,500 during a 10-year period, the Mahon planning tribunal heard yesterday.