Dangerous Liason

If Ben Dunne had never met escort Denise Wojcik, Lowry could be Taoiseach, Haughey revered and O’Brien’s reputation unblemished, writes Michael Clifford

A NUMBER of high-profile women have had a serious impact on public life in Ireland over the last 20 years.

Mary Robinson broke moulds. Mary McAleese took the presidential torch and ran with it. Mary Harney had a big impact in the cabinet that governed through the tail end of the real boom and the blowing of the catastrophic bubble. There are others too who showed that women could have a lead rule in public life.

But it arguable that the woman who had the biggest impact on Irish public life over the last two decades was Denise Wojcik, a one-time librarian. In fact, Wojcik’s contribution is such that it probably surpasses not just that of other women, but of all men who inhabited public life during that time.

Without Wojcik’s input, it is possible, if not likely, that Michael Lowry would be Taoiseach today. Can you imagine that? Say what you like about Enda Kenny, but at least we are comforted in the knowledge that he looks honest. If Lowry was running the show, all the evidence is he would be tapping up Sarkozy and Merkel for whatever they could deliver, and to blazes with the country.

If it wasn’t for Wojcik, Ray Burke would have taken a lead role in the North’s peace process. Nobody would know that he had corrupted his way through his career. Charlie Haughey would now be viewed as a great statesman, a politician with the ability to rise above the begrudgers, the father of Ireland’s ascent into the fully developed world. Nobody would know that he was a complete crook.

There are others who must regret the impact Ms Wojcik had on Irish public life. Denis O’Brien would not be spending fortunes defending his reputation. Dermot Desmond would not have had to endure unwanted intrusion into his business and personal life. Michael Moriarty, the High Court judge who presided over the tribunal which reported this week, would not have had to dedicate 14 years of his life to a thankless task. For if there was no Denise, it’s most likely there would have been no tribunals.

There is one figure in public life who must have mixed feelings about Wojcik’s input into Irish public life. The businessman Ben Dunne — the only serious player to have encountered Wojcik personally — could still be running Dunnes Stores if they had never met. He would not have ended up branded as a corrupt individual.

On the other hand, if fate had not drawn him to Wojcik, he might never have cleaned up his act and forsaken his drug habit. He might still be a coke bunny, shovelling a few lines up his nose before picking up the phone to talk to Joe. And since it’s difficult to dislike cuddly Ben, we should be grateful that he encountered Wojcik on the road to Damascus.

Denise’s impact on Irish public life began when she received a phone call in her trailer in a park in Orlando, Florida on the night of February 19, 1992. She had lost her job as a librarian six months earlier. In the meantime, she was earning a few bucks as an escort. Afterwards, she insisted that her role was to provide company and not sex.

The call from an agency relayed that there was a client waiting for her at the Grand Cypress Hotel in the city.

When she arrived, Ben Dunne opened the door. He had a flute of Dom Perignon in his hand and he passed over a tip of $400.

There is no record of how he greeted Wojcik, but maybe he told her “Dunnes Stores: Better value beats them all”.

Within a few hours it was all over. The coke went to Ben’s head. Security was called, and they had some job talking Ben down from a threat to throw himself to his death. He was brought from the hotel hog-tied to a pole, like a cooked beast en-route to a feast.

The upshot of the fallout was that the Dunne siblings went to battle for control of the business. Court documents were prepared showing that Ben had sorted Lowry out for an extension on his house. Another document detailed payments Ben made to Haughey. The case was settled in 1994, with Ben exiting the company. The court documents started gathering dust.

In 1996, somebody presented journalist Sam Smyth with the documents about Lowry. He broke the story and within months, Haughey was also unmasked. That led to the establishment of the McCracken Tribunal, and the exposure of Haughey and Lowry as kept men.

McCracken begat Moriarty and the long haul towards this week’s final report. Up the yard in Dublin Castle, the Flood Tribunal began uncovering another strand of corruption. Without McCracken, and the public reaction to it, Flood may never have been established.

Lowry’s star in Fine Gael up until his resignation in 1996 was bright and getting brighter all the time. He was regarded as one to watch. Enda Kenny was a long way behind him in the pecking order.

Had he not fallen, Lowry would have been short odds to make it to the top of the heap. Without Denise Wojcik’s intervention on that fateful night, Lowry could now be Taoiseach.

If Ben hadn’t gone looking for company, he might have eventually fallen asleep. The following day, he could have rejoined his golfing buddies. His coke habit and weakness for escorts could have remained under wraps. There would have been no row with his siblings. And the interface of business and politics would have remained a dark secret, kept from the general public, at whose expense it was repeatedly soiled.

If you’re out there, Denise, thank you. By your actions, you shone a powerful light into this country’s grubby past. You should be afforded some high honour, perhaps the Freedom of Dublin Castle. And I hope that things have picked up for you since that night in February 1992, when you left your home, en route to a place in Irish history.