Burke corruption reported 20 years ago

WHILE corrupt planning practices involving Ray Burke have been exposed by the Flood Tribunal, many of the matters were reported as early as 20 years ago.

Hibernia, a weekly newspaper, was responsible for airing many of the details in the 1970s but was eventually forced to close after a series of libel actions against it.

Many of the details revealed by the magazine, and Sunday Independent journalist Joe MacAnthony, on Mr Burke's close relationship with developers have been vindicated by the Tribunal report.

In early Spring 1975 it reported that: "Raphael Burke, Fianna Fáil TD and Dublin County Councillor, is selling illegally built houses at River Valley Estate in Swords, County Dublin."

It also told of a close relationship with property developers Tom Brennan and Joseph McGowan.

It told readers that Deputy Burke had been selling houses for the developers through his company PJ Burke Ltd, named after his father for "sentimental reasons."

Much of this information was also uncovered by journalist Joe MacAnthony in the Sunday Independent.

In 1974 he reported that a document had been sent to the Companies Office in Dublin with the returns for Dublin Airport Industrial Estates Ltd, a company connected to Brennan and McGowan.

The document contained the following reference: "Ray Burke planning £15,000".

Mr Burke was at that time both a county councillor and a newly elected member of the Dáil.

Articles by Hibernia and the Sunday Independent resulted in three separate garda investigations which concluded without recommending a prosecution t emerged three years ago that some of the files relating to these investigations have gone missing.

This week's Flood Tribunal report concluded that Mr Burke received a number of corrupt payments from developers Brennan and McGowan.

The report found the transfer of a house from Brennan and associates into the hands of Mr Burke, in 1973, amounted as a corrupt payment.

The developers built a large number of high density houses in the Swords area. It did not build detached houses except for one Burke's house which stood on an acre of land. Burke became the first owner of the house, which he called Briargate, and sold several years ago for more than 3m.

The Flood Tribunal also concluded that Mr Burke received more than £160,000 in corrupt payments from Mr Brennan and associates in the early 1980s through a series of offshore accounts.

The Tribunal said it was satisfied the payments were for political favours, although it was unable to discover any specific action Mr Burke took on receipt of the payments.