Death of key witness major setback for tribunal

THE future of the Planning Tribunal remains uncertain following the sudden death of Liam Lawlor in Moscow at the weekend.

The absence of the central character under investigation for alleged planning corruption could prove a fatal setback for the long- running inquiry. However, Lawlor’s tragic death could also theoretically speed up the work of a tribunal that has frequently been derided for its slow rate of progress and astronomical costs.

What is certain is that tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, and its legal team will have plenty to ponder over the next few days about the inquiry’s future course.

Lawlor was expected to feature largely in the forthcoming module which was due to examine claims by Frank Dunlop that he bribed over a dozen members of Dublin County Council to support the development of a shopping centre at Quarryvale in the early 1990s.

However, he has long since been dismissed as a crucial witness because of his unwavering obstruction of the inquiry, despite his protests to the contrary.

Nevertheless, some of Lawlor’s former business and political associates in controversial land deals and rezoning issues might seize the opportunity of his untimely death to try and draw a veil over the whole proceedings.

It might also offer some less scrupulous individuals the chance to lay exclusive blame at the door of the former TD in an exculpatory exercise to excuse their own involvement in shady land deals in Dublin during the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, others could, with some justification, argue that the tribunal cannot not make any conclusive findings in the absence of such a key witness and thus should wind its work up.

“It’s very hard to say what will happen next. The tribunal is already under pressure to speed up its investigation but nobody really knows what will happen as Mr Lawlor’s death was entirely unexpected,” said one senior barrister last night.

However, the tribunal’s legal team has amassed a large paper trail over the past nine years, despite Lawlor’s best efforts to thwart their progress.

At every turn since its establishment in 1997, the controversial politician resisted attempts by the tribunal to get him to hand over documentation relating to his involvement in numerous land deals. His sheer brass-necked approach to dealings with the inquiry eventually resulted in him spending a total of six weeks in Mountjoy Prison over his failure to co-operate with tribunal lawyers.

Now Lawlor will go to his grave with his many secrets, although the tribunal has managed to uncover his prominent role in controversial land deals at Carrickmines, Coolamber and Quarryvale.

There are enough other villains, however, who have reaped the fruits of planning corruption with impunity to justify the tribunal’s future. The real concern is that murmurs from political circles questioning the value of such an inquiry, which have gained volume over the past year, could get louder still in the days following Lawlor’s death.