‘In my view, the tribunal has got the whole story’

“THIS has been an extraordinarily difficult experience,” chief Mahon Tribunal whistle-blower Frank Dunlop declared yesterday on completing 124 days of evidence during an eight-year marathon.

“However, it is pleasurable to know the tribunal members and their legal team and my legal team and I have grown through it — and will live. And it’s not the end of the world.

“The only question in contention now is whether your report or my book is published first,” he told the three judges.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Dunlop said his book will deal with the people “involved in the tribunal, as well as me”. He said there was nothing sensational in it about the substantive matters before the tribunal, but “there will be lots of fairly interesting stories”.

While he did not want to pre-empt the tribunal’s findings, he said it was “palpably obvious” not all matters that took place at Dublin County Council during the early 1990s were carried out or done by people “who were behaving like angels”.

After hearing his evidence the tribunal had “the full story” about his allegations of planning corruption, he contended.

“I’m feeling quite relaxed, quite happy that it’s over,” said Mr Dunlop. “I have been in contact with the tribunal for 10 years. I got my first letter from the tribunal on October 9, 1998 and I have been giving evidence here since April and May 2000.

“I cannot count the number of boxes of documents. I believe the number of pages, taken in their totality, in relation to what occurred at Dublin County Council in this specific period [1990-93] come to the order of 750,000 pages.”

What did he have to say to the claim some people made that he was an admitted perjurer? “Those are very harsh words,” said Mr Dunlop. “The reality is that during a specified period, prior to April-May 2000, I did not tell the whole story.

“Since April-May 2000, in a variety of ways, in a variety of modules, we have got virtually the whole story. There may be aspects of it I am not aware of, or aspects of it I do not fully recall. But certainly, in my view, the tribunal has got the whole story.”

In May 2000, after he began to co-operate with the tribunal, Mr Dunlop alleged he bribed a number of councillors — amounting to tens of thousands of pounds — for their support for developments throughout Dublin county.

Mr Dunlop named some 16 of the 78-member council as having taken corrupt payments — councillors against whom allegations were made and who are all still living have vigorously denied the lobbyist’s claims. Those who admitted getting money from Mr Dunlop insisted these were political donations with no strings attached.

Despite suffering heart problems Mr Dunlop recently graduated with a degree in European law. He intends to complete a masters in Trinity College Dublin after which he will consider travelling to the US to do a doctorate in “the type of law that will entitle me to become a judge.”