Tax exile Kennedy expected to snub planning inquiry

A CONTROVERSIAL tax exile under investigation by the Flood Tribunal is expected to snub the inquiry by failing to turn up to give evidence at Dublin Castle today.

Reclusive businessman Jim Kennedy has so far refused to respond in any detail to a series of correspondence from the tribunal's legal team.

It is also unclear whether Mr Kennedy or any of his legal representatives will attend a hearing of the tribunal this afternoon. However, the former publican has repeatedly indicated his unwillingness to co-operate with the planning inquiry. Mr Kennedy is believed to be one of the beneficial owners of both Paisley Park Investments and Jackson Way Properties the past and present owners respectively of more than 100 acres of land at Carrickmines in south Dublin which were the subject of several controversial, rezoning motions during the 1990s.

The former Fianna Fáil TD, Liam Lawlor, has also been linked with both companies, although he has consistently denied having any financial interest in the land. Frank Dunlop has told the inquiry that he paid £30,000 on behalf of Paisley Park and Jackson Way to nine councillors in return for their support of the proposed rezoning. The political lobbyist claims that Mr Kennedy provided him with £25,000 in 1992, on behalf of Paisley Park, to ensure a significant number of councillors would vote to rezone the lands. However, a motion to have the property zoned for industrial development was narrowly defeated 26-24.

Mr Kennedy originally bought the land from a local farmer, Bob Tracey, for £540,000 in the late 1980s. Paisley Park is currently seeking 47m in compensation from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council after part of its lands were compulsorily acquired by the State to build the final leg of the M50 motorway around Dublin.

In a letter to the tribunal from his solicitors in June 2000, Mr Kennedy denied ever having any beneficial interest in the Carrickmines lands. Last February, Mr Kennedy informed the tribunal that he had become a resident of Gibraltar having moved there from his most recent base in the Isle of Man. He also stated that he had renounced his Irish nationality. The Laois-born businessman also turned down a request to attend a meeting with the tribunal's legal team, citing ill health and a desire to maintain his privacy.

Mr Kennedy has told the tribunal that a subsequent witness summons issued to him had no extra jurisdictional or legal effect. In his most recent letter to the tribunal on October 1, Mr Kennedy claimed the allegations made against him "do not dignify a response". Mr Kennedy's Gibraltar-based lawyer, Freddy Vasquez could not be contacted for comment last night. Legal experts have highlighted the fact that the tribunal has no legal powers to compel Mr Kennedy to attend the hearing of the planning inquiry because of his non-resident status in Ireland. However, one leading constitutional lawyer said that the Tribunal could seek to have Mr Kennedy prosecuted for his failure to co-operate with its investigation.

During yesterday's hearing, the former manager of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council expressed surprise at the decision by councillors to rezone part of Jackson Way's lands in '97 from agricultural to industrial use.