Fine Gael committee to decide on Mitchell’s fate

Fine Gael has yet to decide on the fate of TD Olivia Mitchell, ministers have indicated.

The Mahon Tribunal found that Ms Mitchell had accepted an “inappropriate” £500 donation from lobbyist Frank Dunlop ahead of the 1992 general election in which she was a candidate.

An internal party committee is examining what, if any, disciplinary action should be taken against Ms Mitchell as a result.

It was reported yesterday that Fine Gael was split on the issue, with some TDs feeling disciplinary action should be taken against her and others feeling she had been badly treated.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the matter was in the hands of the internal committee. He said the amount of money involved seemed very small, but added: “Obviously there’s a principle involved. The principle is being addressed. I don’t want to prejudice anything by saying anything while the process is going on.”

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton similarly said the internal committee should be allowed finish its consideration of the issue.

“Clearly if you set up a process, you’re not going to try to anticipate or undermine that process. That’s what Fine Gael is doing — it set up a process, it will look at the details and make recommendations on foot of that, and that’s the way it should be handled.”

The tribunal found that as a councillor in the early 1990s, Ms Mitchell had supported developer Owen O’Callaghan’s Quarryvale project, for which Mr Dunlop was hired to lobby. She supported the project in Dublin County Council votes in May 1991 and Dec 1992.

The inquiry said it was satisfied that, as a matter of probability, Ms Mitchell received £500 from Mr Dunlop at the time of the 1992 general election. At that time Ms Mitchell had had meetings with Mr Dunlop and Mr O’Callaghan in relation to Quarryvale, and was a supporter of that project.

“While the available evidence would suggest that Cllr Mitchell herself did not solicit the contribution, she nonetheless accepted it in the knowledge of Mr Dunlop’s close association with the Quarryvale rezoning project. In all those circumstances it was inappropriate for her to have accepted the cash donation,” the tribunal found.

Ms Mitchell has rejected the tribunal’s findings and said she hoped the internal committee would consider her loyalty to Fine Gael over the course of her political career.