Counsel for AIB has told the Mahon tribunal that the bank never talked to anyone about developer Tom Gilmartin's personal affairs. Fiona Gartlandreports.
In his final days of cross-examination at the planning tribunal, Mr Gilmartin repeated claims that everything he told the bank was passed on to Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan.
Mr O'Callaghan was initially a rival to Mr Gilmartin, but then became involved in his plans to develop the Liffey Valley shopping centre at Quarryvale, west Dublin.
Mr Gilmartin had initially borrowed £8.5 million from the bank in February 1990 to help him buy land at Quarryvale. The loan was for a six-month period and the bank became concerned when it appeared Mr Gilmartin would not be able to repay it within the agreed time.
Mr Gilmartin said he began to have trouble with the British inland revenue after he told the bank he was in negotiation with them in relation to the sale of a property in Northern Ireland.
"Everything I told the bank was passed on to Owen O'Callaghan and he managed to get Mr [ Liam] Lawlor, Mr [ Frank] Dunlop and others into action immediately," Mr Gilmartin said. "No stone was left unturned to put me out of business."
Richard Nesbitt SC, for AIB, said his client would "deny absolutely" talking to anybody about Mr Gilmartin's personal affairs without his permission.
"It will be the bank's evidence . . . that no attempt was made by the bank or any person in the bank to interfere in the success of your development. They were desperate for it to succeed, they wanted to get repaid," Mr Nesbitt said.
Banker Eddie Kay, who dealt with Mr Gilmartin, would say that government support which Mr Gilmartin had claimed he had for the project never seemed to materialise, Mr Nesbitt said. Mr Gilmartin said this was because he "was not a ball player".
Mr Kay would give evidence of the support he had given Mr Gilmartin, Mr Nesbitt said, which included taking calls from him on a daily basis or sometimes more than once a day. "Don't try and tell me how honourable the bank was, the bank was totally dishonourable," Mr Gilmartin said.
Mr Nesbitt said Mr Gilmartin had no track record of getting schemes, such as Quarryvale, off the ground in Ireland and had found it distasteful when he was asked to do things that didn't fit in with "his dream".
"I found it distasteful to be blackmailed and thwarted by crooked politicians who were being paid handsomely to make certain that my scheme didn't get off the ground," Mr Gilmartin replied.
Colm O hOisín SC, counsel for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, questioned Mr Gilmartin about his claims around the "Starry" O'Brien story.
In March 1999, a story in the Sunday Business Post said that Denis "Starry" O'Brien admitted to paying Mr Ahern £50,000 at a football match on behalf of Mr O'Callaghan.
Mr Ahern subsequently took the paper and Mr O'Brien to court in 2001 and was awarded damages of €40,000.
Mr Gilmartin had said he was contacted by journalists to confirm the story, but after receiving advice from an anonymous caller he refused to.
The caller warned him that the whole thing was a trap.
Mr Nesbitt said: ". . . as part of the conspiracy they arranged essentially for a libel trial in which Mr O'Brien would collapse and damage your credibility. That fantastic story is . . . contradicted by the facts."
He said Mr Gilmartin did not tell the tribunal about the alleged £50,000 payment until after the article appeared in the paper. Mr Gilmartin said he did.