Gilmartin hits out at FF tactics to get cash
The former developer expressed disgust at Fianna Fáil’s treatment of him after he had made formal complaints to various authorities, including senior politicians, about the actions of Liam Lawlor and George Redmond.
Mr Gilmartin said he had been encouraged to believe a £50,000 donation that he made to the party via then Minister for the Environment Padraig Flynn in 1989 would help “smooth things out” in relation to his plans for shopping centres at Bachelor’s Walk and Quarryvale.
“In my opinion that in itself was the most sickening suggestion,” said Mr Gilmartin. “That the party had to be paid to clean up crooks and gangsters who were demanding money willy-nilly from investors.”The millionaire businessman said he had expected that his donation would result in “a level playing field” to help his projects get off the ground.
“They wanted money but they had no intention of helping me in any way,” he complained at one stage.
Mr Gilmartin said he expected any civilised society would want to clean up what should never have been permitted in the first place.
However, he stressed that his problems had intensified after he had given a donation to Fianna Fáil.
Mr Gilmartin reminded the tribunal that he had made formal complaints about the activities of Mr Lawlor and Mr Redmond to government ministers, council officials and the gardaí, but had been advised to go back to England with his wild allegations.
The witness claimed he was upset he had not been able to honour his word to a British company brought in as investors on the Bachelor’s Walk site because of “the type of people I met“.
Under cross-examination by Mr Lawlor yesterday, he vehemently rejected accusations that he had attempted to bribe Mr Flynn with a £50,000 cheque. Mr Gilmartin said he was given to understand that by giving a donation that it would “clean up this quagmire“.
Mr Gilmartin said he had been subjected to demands for money from various quarters within the Fianna Fáil party.
He also observed that a rival property developer, Owen O’Callaghan, who was attempting to build another shopping centre near his Quarryvale site, had “more political clout” than he could ever hope for.
“Clout from the top as he still has,” he said.
In other evidence, he conceded that he had not raised concerns about Mr Lawlor’s conduct for almost a year after the politician first started looking to get involved in the shopping centre.
Although he had criticised the manner in which the former TD had “gate-crashed” a meeting held in London in May 1988, Mr Gilmartin said he had not made complaints about Mr Lawlor’s conduct until February 1989. By then, Mr Gilmartin said he had reached the final straw after Mr Redmond had also interfered.
The witness said he wasn’t initially sure if Mr Lawlor was representing the Government, but he subsequently raised the matter with Mr Flynn and later still with Bertie Ahern.
He recalled being told by Mr Flynn that Mr Lawlor had no role in the Bachelor’s Walk project because he was a TD representing another part of Dublin.
Mr Gilmartin said he did not know what role or position Mr Lawlor had in relation to the Government.
“I was told [Mr Lawlor was] one of Mr Haughey’s blue-eyed boys,” said Mr Gilmartin.
“History will prove that one wrong,” replied Mr Lawlor grinning.
