Mystery man ‘made Mafia look like monks’

The Mahon Tribunal was unable to identify a mystery man who “made the Mafia look like monks” by demanding a €5m bribe from developer Tom Gilmartin in the ministerial corridors of Leinster House.

The report concluded that the demand was made by a person who approached Mr Gilmartin in a “threatening” manner after he emerged from a meeting with the then taoiseach Charles Haughey and a number of senior ministers in Feb 1989.

The tribunal accepted Mr Gilmartin’s evidence that the man produced a piece of paper with details of an Isle of Man bank account into which €5m was to be paid in return for assistance with the Quarryvale project.