Lawlor role in project concealed, says Dunlop

THE late Liam Lawlor’s role in a proposed national sports stadium was concealed from former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, lobbyist Frank Dunlop told the Mahon Tribunal yesterday.

Mr Dunlop said Mr Reynolds was supportive of the £55 million, 40,000-seater project at Neilstown in west Dublin from the start, but would have had “a coronary” if he knew Mr Lawlor was involved.

The lobbyist described a series of meetings involving Cork-based developer Owen O’Callaghan, US investment bankers Chilton & O’Connor, and Mr Reynolds in the mid-1990s — including one in a Connemara hotel during the 1994 Galway Races.