Cosgrave shocked by corruption charges, court hears

Retired Fine Gael politician Liam Cosgrave was shocked to learn he was to be charged with receiving alleged corrupt payments for rezoning of lands in Carrickmines in Dublin in the 1990s, the High Court heard today.

Mr Cosgrave is seeking orders preventing his criminal trial from going ahead on grounds including that the trial is an abuse of process because the charges arise out of the same factual matrix, which are allegations by former government press secretary and lobbyist Frank Dunlop, of a criminal charge he pleaded guilty to in 2006.