Dunlop is accused of ‘hallucinating’ payments

FORMER lobbyist Frank Dunlop was accused at the Mahon Planning Tribunal yesterday of hallucinating when alleging he paid Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fox £2,000 to vote for a south Dublin housing development in the 1990s.

Mr Fox, a current member and former vice-chairman of Dun Laoghaire / Rathdown County Council, later in evidence rejected Mr Dunlop’s allegation as “absolutely untrue”.

The tribunal is investigating a series of unexplained cash payments amounting to £160,000 made by Monarch Properties development company between 1991 and 1996 in connection with its 236-acre Cherrywood housing project.

Monarch made payments totalling over £500,000 relating to the Cherrywood zoning process; a substantial amount of the money was paid out in political donations the company described as expense costs.

The developers appointed Mr Dunlop, a former Fianna Fáíl government press secretary, to lobby on its behalf after the company had failed to achieve rezoning of the 236-acre Cherrywood property in south Dublin.

Mr Fox’s lawyer, Breffni Gordon BL, made the “hallucinating” comment to Mr Dunlop after Mr

Dunlop insisted his version of events was correct — that he had given the money to Mr Fox.

Mr Gordon put it to Mr Dunlop that he did not have the hallmark of a witness who tells the truth, recalling how the witness had come to the tribunal in 2000 and perjured himself.

Mr Fox said he certainly never sought a payment from Mr Dunlop or discussed Cherrywood with him. The only Monarch person Mr Fox said he had contact with was the development company’s Richard Lynn, who was project co-ordinator for Cherrywood.