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.

Mr Dunlop said State funding was essential if the stadium in Neilstown was to be successful. He said they were looking for a guarantee of £5m per year from the National Lottery for 10 years.

He said the fact that the former Fianna Fáil deputy had a 25% stake in the project was hidden from Mr Reynolds and then finance minister Bertie Ahern — even though Mr Lawlor was then a sitting TD.

If Mr Lawlor’s involvement had become known, Mr Dunlop told the tribunal that his own solicitor, Mr Reynolds and Mr Ahern would have all ended up in the same coronary unit.

When Bill O’Connor, president of the US banking firm, got to meet Mr Ahern in November 1994 the visitor and the project got short shrift, the tribunal heard. The meeting — also attended by Mr O’Callaghan — lasted only 10 minutes and Mr O’Connor was then effectively shown the door, being reportedly “very annoyed” at his treatment.

Apparently, Mr Ahern bluntly informed his visitors there would be no state funding for the stadium and that he planned to build a national stadium elsewhere. He was told it would be controlled by the State and be available to all sectors of the community.

In May 1998, Mr O’Callaghan wrote to Mr Ahern regarding proposed moves to bring Wimbledon FC, then a top-flight English league club, to Dublin. He said Wimbledon was prepared to provide “a national football stadium” for £55m.

By November 1998, as Mr Dunlop recalled, both the Wimbledon move to Dublin and a new national stadium had “withered away”.