Tribunal to rule on Kennedy refusal to attend
The controversial tax exile is believed to have been one of the main movers in attempts by property owners in South Dublin to bribe politicians during the 1990s.
Frank Dunlop has alleged that Mr Kennedy paid him £25,000 in 1992 to give to nine councillors in return for support of a motion to have over 100 acres at Carrickmines rezoned from agricultural to industrial use.
The tribunal must consider whether it is worthwhile to begin a legal process which could ultimately lead to Mr Kennedy's extradition after he ignored a summons to attend yesterday's hearing at Dublin Castle.
The Laois-born businessman currently spends his time between the tax havens of the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, although he continues to have several business interests in Ireland, including a business arcade on Dublin's Westmoreland Street. One of his building firms, Lismore Homes, is also currently involved in a High Court action with Bank of Ireland Finance.
The chairman of the three-judge tribunal panel, Mr Justice Feargus Flood, said they would announce their decision about what legal step to take against Mr Kennedy next week.
On a similar occasion in the past, the Tribunal initiated a High Court action when a non-resident witness refused to attend the inquiry. However, solicitor John Caldwell, who is another owner of Carrickmines lands, subsequently agreed to give evidence before he faced the prospect of a criminal prosecution.
Yesterday, the inquiry heard evidence that Mr Kennedy had ignored over 18 separate letters sent to his Gibraltar-based lawyers since last October.Mr Justice Flood said it was manifestly clear Mr Kennedy had no intention of co-operating with the inquiry, even though he had been supplied with all the relevant information. He claimed the businessman was breaking the law in so far as it related to this country.
In June 2000, Mr Kennedy responded to Mr Dunlop's allegations by claiming he never had any beneficial interest in either Paisley Park or Jackson Way the two offshore companies which owned the Carrickmines lands.
Last February, he informed the tribunal that he had now taken up residence in Gibraltar and had renounced his Irish citizenship. On that basis, Mr Kennedy claimed that any witness summons issued to him had no jurisdictional or legal effect.
He also turned down the invitation to a private meeting with the tribunal's legal team because of ill health and his desire to maintain his privacy.
In his last correspondence with the Tribunal on October 1, Mr Kennedy, through his Gibraltar lawyers, claimed the allegations against him "do not dignify a response." However, it is believed that the 55-year-old former estate agent and publican had his own observers in a sparsely populated public gallery during yesterday's short hearing. Officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau were also in attendance at Dublin Castle.
Meanwhile, Frank Dunlop, the tribunal's key witness in its investigation into claims of systematic planning corruption, will also make his eagerly-awaited appearance at the Tribunal later today.
It will be Mr Dunlop's first time to give evidence since early 2000 when he sensationally revealed that he paid bribes worth over £100,000 to councillors in relation to Quarryvale.
