Tribunal hears media stories coincided with council votes

CORK businessman Owen O’Callaghan has denied he leaked information about the financial difficulties of another developer, Tom Gilmartin, to two newspapers in the early 1990s.

The Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday that reports about Mr Gilmartin’s problems with the tax authorities in Britain were published in May 1991 and December 1992 — on each occasion just days before crucial votes by Dublin County Council on Quarryvale.

Mr O’Callaghan said the timing of such reports appearing in conjunction with the council meetings was “pure coincidence”.