Cosgrave denies conspiring with Dunlop to mislead inquiry

FORMER Fine Gael TD Liam Cosgrave has denied conspiring with Frank Dunlop to mislead the Flood Tribunal by claiming any bribes he received from the political lobbyist were legitimate political donations.

Mr Cosgrave yesterday rejected any suggestions that he had made an agreement with Mr Dunlop to categorise all such payments as election contributions.

“That didn’t happen, I’m telling you,” said Mr Cosgrave during his fourth day in the witness box at Dublin Castle. He has denied receiving a series of bribes from Mr Dunlop during the 1990s in return for his support of the rezoning of lands owned at Carrickmines, Co Dublin, by two associated offshore companies, Paisley Park and Jackson Way Properties.

However, he admitted that he had discussed the workings of the tribunal with the political lobbyist on a number of occasions since its establishment more than five years ago.

He recalled arranging with fellow Fine Gael councillors, Olivia Mitchell and Thérèse Ridge, to invite Mr Dunlop to lunch in the autumn of 1998 “to give him a bit of a lift.”

During a conversation about the tribunal, Mr Cosgrave said Mr Dunlop had informed them that their late party colleague, Tom Hand, had sought a £250,000 bribe for his support on the development of Quarryvale. However, Mr Cosgrave told the tribunal that he didn’t believe the allegation as he felt Mr Dunlop was trying “to amuse us with a tall story to go along with the brandies.” He was also taken aback because he felt the PR consultant was maligning someone who was dead. Mr Cosgrave, who is still a member of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council, said he had no concern about any payments he had received from Mr Dunlop as they were all legitimate.

The 46-year-old solicitor was also “shocked and amazed” by the events of April 2000 when Mr Dunlop revealed he had been engaged in bribing councillors. Mr Cosgrave maintained that his proposal to rezone the Jackson Way lands was justified because it would provide jobs locally at a time when other areas of Dublin had been doing better in terms of industrial development.