No diaries kept by Kelly
“I never used a diary to record business meetings,” Ambrose Kelly had testified. He told Judge Gerald Keys he would record his notes “on a sheet of paper”. He could not explain what happened to them afterwards.
The Ambrose Kelly Group was hired by developer Owen O’Callaghan to provide architectural services for the Quarryvale project in the early 1990s.
Mr Kelly, who said he had no records of meetings or correspondence with Mr O’Callaghan, gave the tribunal 14 boxes of documents in 2000, after being requested to provide all his records relating to his Quarryvale involvement
But the architect admitted there were no records of his meetings or discussions with Mr O’Callaghan in relation to the Quarryvale rezoning, or the proposed national stadium at Neilstown.
He also attended meetings in the office of lobbyist Frank Dunlop, which were also attended by the late Liam Lawlor, a consultant on Quarryvale hired by Mr O’Callaghan. But he said these were not formal meetings and it was not his function to record them.
Mr Kelly said he could not explain why he did not have a copy of a document dated November 25, 1991, he sent to Mr Lawlor. The document from Mr Kelly’s firm related to a submission for the proposed Quarryvale town centre being made to Dublin County Council.
Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon asked Mr Kelly if he could explain what would have happened that he was not in a position to provide this document.
Mr Kelly said his firm had moved offices and he had emigrated five years ago. There was no reason why anything should have got lost in transit.
The tribunal has been given evidence that “substantial” fees were paid to Mr Kelly for his services relating to Quarryvale.
Mr Kelly insisted he had given all the documentation in his possession connected with the project.
He told tribunal senior counsel Patricia Dillon it was not his policy to destroy documentation. “I gave you everything I had in my files,” Mr Kelly maintained.
Asked how he arrived at his fees, Mr Kelly said they had a system of payment for costs incurred, but there were two or three stages in the process before fees were agreed.
