Lawlor accused of attempted blackmail

DEVELOPER Tom Gilmartin yesterday accused former Dublin West TD Liam Lawlor of attempting to blackmail a British property company into taking him on as a consultant.

On the second day of his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal, the Sligo-born businessman claimed that Mr Lawlor had arrived unannounced and uninvited at a meeting of Arlington plc in London and had forced the company into accepting him as a consultant for a property project in London.

Mr Gilmartin was outlining the circumstances surrounding the proposed development of a huge retail complex in Bachelors Walk in Dublin in 1987 and 1988.