Councillors took bribes, says tribunal

Four councillors and a millionaire businessman who were at the centre of a collapsed planning corruption trial last week had received bribes from political lobbyist Frank Dunlop in return for rezoning favours, the Mahon Tribunal has found.

A previously unpublished chapter of the final report found that four politicians — Don Lydon, Colm McGrath, Liam Cosgrave Jr, and Tony Fox — had accepted corrupt payments for their votes in support of the controversial rezoning of lands in Carrickmines, south Dublin, during the 1990s.

It concluded Dunlop — a former government press secretary — had paid a total of £25,000 corruptly to six former members of Dublin County Council including Lydon, McGrath, Cosgrave, and Fox on behalf of the landowner, Jim Kennedy.