A former executive of the British property company that tried unsuccessfully to develop Bachelor's Walk in Dublin has corroborated Mr Tom Gilmartin's claims that Mr Liam Lawlor stormed into a meeting uninvited and demanded money.
Mr Gilmartin has told the Mahon tribunal he was at a London meeting of Arlington Securities in May 1988 when Mr Lawlor arrived uninvited and demanded money to ensure their plans to build a £100 sterling shopping centre on the River Liffey's north quays were successful.
Mr Ted Dadley, who was the chairman of Arlington Retail Developments, a subsidiary of Arlington Securities, in the 1980s, said today that Mr Gilmartin's account of the meeting was largely correct. He said it was not a board meeting, but a discussion among the principals involved, namely Mr Dadley, Arlington chief executive Mr Raymond Mould, Mr Humphrey Price and Mr Gilmartin.
Mr Dadley said they were told Mr Lawlor was downstairs in reception. They were "bemused and intrigued as to why he should be there" but decided to invite him up. "He was not really wanted."
He said Mr Lawlor told them he was a representative of the Irish Government. He suggested he should be Arlington's "PR consultant" to help them through the "corridors of power", as they would need all the help they could get.
Mr Dadley agreed with Mr John Gallagher, SC for the tribunal, that Mr Gilmartin had turned to him and described Mr Lawlor as a "hustler". He said Mr Gilmartin was understandably upset. "You don't want a hustler turning up to put his foot in the door," he said.
He also retracted part of the statement furnished to the tribunal in which he said it was Mr Gilmartin's idea to employ Mr Lawlor. He accepted today that this was wrong, and he agreed with Mr Gilmartin's testimony that he strongly advised against being involved in any way with the West Dublin TD.
However, Mr Dadley said he and Mr Mould "decided that if this man [Mr Lawlor] could help us, we had nothing to lose, and why not?"
Mr Gilmartin and Mr Dadley left the meeting and went to a nearby hotel. Mr Gilmartin said he learned some time after this meeting that Mr Lawlor had demanded a 20 per cent share of the Bachelor's Walk project on behalf of the Government and then, when that was refused, demanded a once-off payment of £100,000.
Mr Dadley said he had no exact recollection of the amounts of money Mr Lawlor asked for, but he said he had no reason to dispute Mr Gilmartin's account. Asked whether he could confirm Mr Gilmartin's claim that Mr Lawlor had demanded £100,000 at the meeting, Mr Dadley said it was "quite possible", but he could not remember. "Had he done so [asked for that sum], the answer would have been an emphatic no."
He agreed that Arlington agreed to pay Mr Lawlor consultancy fees. The former West Dublin TD was paid £32,000 by Arlington between June 1988 and January 1989. "I'm not quite sure what Mr Lawlor did during that time," Mr Dadley said. "It didn't last any more than ten months as we clearly weren't getting anywhere, with or without his assistance."
"There is absolutely no question whatsoever that these monies were a political contribution."
He later told the tribunal that Mr Lawlor's claims he was paid around £60,000 in political donations by Arlington were "absolute rubbish."
Mr Dadley said there was no written agreement with Mr Lawlor. The only services he provided for his £3,500 per month were furnishing Arlington with a number of documents including the Census and ERSI reports. Mr Dadley noted that these were "freely available" to anyone who wanted them for £10.
Mr Lawlor also set up a meeting with CIÉ and met Mr Dadley at Dublin Airport to bring him to meet Mr Pádraig Flynn in Leinster House. Mr Dadley said he was struck by Mr Lawlor's car - a burgundy Mercedes 500 or 560. "Knowing the price of cars in Ireland at that time, I remember it was quite an expensive car for someone to be driving in," he said.
Mr Liam Lawlor later cross-examined Mr Dadley. He said the tribunal is trying to establish why the Bachelor's Walk development - "which we all wanted to see succeed" - was not built. "Did it fail because of gangsterism, corruption or political interference?" he asked.
Mr Dadley said Mr Lawlor promised to guide Arlington down the corridors of power. It was "extremely frustrating" to find all the doors "firmly closed".
Mr Lawlor asked the developer for exact details of the "roadblocks" that had allegedly been put in his way.
In a number of ill-tempered exchanges between the two men, Mr Dadley repeatedly said he could not remember the exact details of every meeting that took place. "You have to remember that this all happened 16, 17 years ago," he said.
Mr Dadley also told Mr Gallagher that Mr Lawlor and Mr Padraig Flynn were the only two Irish politicians who ever asked him for money.
