Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan agreed to pay a debt of £10,700 for Dublin county councillor Colm McGrath after the councillor made a desperate phone call from the Four Courts, the Mahon tribunal was told yesterday.
Lobbyist Frank Dunlop described how he received a call from the Fianna Fáil councillor on May 21st, 1992 while in a meeting with Mr O'Callaghan and architect Ambrose Kelly.
Mr Dunlop was working for Mr O'Callaghan and Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin to promote the development of the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre at Quarryvale, west Dublin.
He said when he received the call he took it that Mr McGrath was in the Four Courts and that a judgment was about to be made against him for £10,700. Mr McGrath had called to locate Mr O'Callaghan, whom he believed would help him, Mr Dunlop said.
He said he told Mr McGrath he would call him back and then discussed the issue with Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Kelly. It was agreed that Mr Dunlop would send a cheque by courier to William Fry & Associates, solicitors for the plaintiff in the case. He made the payment, Mr Dunlop said, on the understanding that he would recoup his money from Mr O'Callaghan later. Patricia Dillon SC, counsel for the tribunal, asked Mr Dunlop why they had agreed to make the payment. "It would not look well if a major supporter of Quarryvale . . . had a judgment made against him or was in debt," Mr Dunlop replied.
Ms Dillon said the sum was equivalent to €40,000 today, a considerable amount of money.
Mr Dunlop said Mr McGrath's financial difficulty "wasn't unusual" and Mr O'Callaghan felt "he should be accommodated".
The tribunal was told that Mr McGrath said the payment was made because the court date clashed with a council meeting at which Quarryvale was to be discussed and his attendance at the meeting "was of overriding importance".
Ms Dillon said there did not appear to be any such council meeting. Mr Dunlop said he could not recall one.
Judge Gerald Keys intervened to ask if Mr Dunlop knew the consequences of bankruptcy for a public representative. Mr Dunlop said Oireachtas members had to resign but he wasn't sure about councillors, and he didn't believe there was any discussion about it.
Ms Dillon also asked Mr Dunlop if he had spoken to Mr O'Callaghan in relation to issues he had discussed with the tribunal in 2000. Mr Dunlop said it was his practice to speak with Mr O'Callaghan once a week, normally on a Saturday night after he had bought the Sunday papers.
Referring to his decision in April 2000 to begin revealing details of his payments to councillors, Mr Dunlop said he received a number of calls from Mr O'Callaghan "immediately after crossing the Rubicon", mainly "humanitarian" in nature.
"On one occasion Mr O'Callaghan expressed shock or horror or astonishment at some of the things I had said," Mr Dunlop said.
He had given evidence that Mr O'Callaghan was not aware of the payments he made to councillors for their support of the Quarryvale project.
The tribunal heard, however, that Mr O'Callaghan was aware of a £1,000 payment made to Mr McGrath on foot of an invoice for work that was never carried out.
The invoice, from Tower Secretarial Services, was issued in June 1992. Mr Dunlop paid it and then billed Riga Ltd, Mr O'Callaghan's company, for £1,442.67.
Mr Dunlop said it was the practice in the public relations industry, and still is, that when passing on a charge for services "you add an extra charge to cover costs for yourself".
He said Mr O'Callaghan was aware Mr McGrath had not provided any specific services in relation to the invoice.
