Dunlop told councillors of development plans

FORMER lobbyist Frank Dunlop admitted at the Mahon Planning Tribunal yesterday to telling county councillors he was going to develop the former racecourse lands at Baldoyle in north Co Dublin.

But Mr Dunlop was under the impression none of the councillors believed he was capable of building 900 houses on the 250-acre site he sought to rezone.

Councillors already knew developer John Byrne, who had acquired some 500 acres in the area years previously, still owned the land.

“I promoted myself as being involved,” said Mr Dunlop. “Whether they believed that I was the only person or not, is a moot point.”

Mr Dunlop readily accepted the suggestion of tribunal lawyer Des O’Neill SC that the project was beyond his financial scope to carry through.

The Pennine Holdings consortium behind the venture, with Mr Dunlop acting as front man, at one stage included two senior executives of Davy Hickey Properties Ltd — a company described in media reports as the property wing of Davy Stockbrokers.

While Mr Byrne had ceased to be involved — having signed over options on his Baldoyle lands to a consortium — Mr Dunlop said Mr Byrne “displayed a degree of anxiety” in March 1993 in the run-up to the lodging of the rezoning motion with the county council. In this context, a series of meetings took place between the witness, Mr Byrne, and former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor, described by Mr Dunlop as the generator of the idea for rezoning Mr Byrne’s land. The purpose of the meetings was to reassure Mr Byrne on planning progress.

“At this stage, the likelihood for success of this motion was very high — partly because I was involved,” said Mr Dunlop, who added that Mr Byrne had hired him because of his track record on planning matters.

Mr O’Neill pointed out the system at the time was one of corruption, a system Mr Dunlop had come to rather than had created. The witness and Mr Lawlor both knew the system was corrupt; did anyone inform Mr Byrne it was?

Mr Dunlop said he certainly didn’t tell Mr Byrne payments would be made or had been made to councillors. “I do not recall discussing with Mr Lawlor whether councillors would have to be paid,” he added.

Questioned about his allegation of bribing seven councillors to support the rezoning, Mr Dunlop insisted Mr Byrne knew nothing of these alleged payments. Mr Dunlop alleges he gave £1,000 each to six councillors and a composite £5,000 payment to a seventh. Three of the councillors have since died; the others deny receiving corrupt payments.

Asked to describe the methodology used to pay councillors, Mr Dunlop explained the bribed politicians directly or indirectly initiated the discussion about being paid.