Lawlor hits out at question restrictions

Sean McCárthaigh

In the course of several heated exchanges, Mr Lawlor hit out at restrictions placed on his efforts to cross-examine Mr Gilmartin as well as the manner in which discovery orders had been issued to Mr Gilmartin.

Mr Lawlor expressed frustration that he was not allowed to ask detailed questions about the planning process for the developer’s proposals to build a major shopping centre at Quarryvale.

He claimed he wanted to know if Mr Gilmartin was drawing a link between a £50,000 cheque he gave to former minister Padraig Flynn and comments the developer had wanted to get “Lawlor off my back”.

However, tribunal barrister John Gallagher SC said the inquiry had not been established to look into the merits of any particular planning proposal.

In the course of subsequent sharp exchanges, Mr Lawlor remarked: “Mr Gilmartin does not seem to have to meet the same standards that the rest of us have to jump to.”

During his seventh day of cross-examining the witness, the former TD also complained that the inquiry’s legal team appeared to be suggesting that planning matters were of “secondary importance” when objections were raised to some of his questions.

Judge Alan Mahon intervened to inform Mr Lawlor the matters he was raising were more suited to the second phase of this module.

However, Mr Lawlor continued to question the operations of the tribunal by asking if the inquiry’s lawyers had sent a defective discovery order to Mr Gilmartin, or perhaps no order at all because it did not appear to have chequebook stubs in relation to the payment to Mr Flynn.

He claimed that there was “something awry” in the fact that tribunal barrister John Gallagher said he would have to go off and check what orders had been made on the businessman.

Rejecting accusations about unequal treatment of witnesses, Mr Gallagher pointed out that many orders had been issued against Mr Lawlor because of his earlier “non-compliance” with other orders.

“That has not arisen with Mr Gilmartin,” he stressed.

However, Mr Lawlor snapped back that he should not have to rely on himself to raise matters which should already have been sought by the tribunal.

In other evidence, Mr Lawlor explained his cross-examination had been longer than anticipated because he wanted to take Mr Gilmartin through the detailed planning process in relation to Quarryvale.

Mr Lawlor said he wanted to demonstrate the developer “had no understanding of what he was trying to achieve”.

He described claims that he had sent Mr Gilmartin a fax highlighting the names of 56 councillors who supported Quarryvale as a “serious pack of lies”.

Meanwhile, Mr Gilmartin accepted he might have made remarks that his allegations could bring down the Government.

However, he denied saying it to reporters as he was trying to avoid publicity “like the plague”.

“I’m not here to clean up Dublin,” he remarked.