MAHON TRIBUNAL:DEVELOPER OWEN O'Callaghan has denied any involvement in two newspaper articles about developer Tom Gilmartin's financial troubles that appeared before two crucial votes on the Quarryvale development.
The Mahon tribunal was told an article appeared in a British newspaper about Mr Gilmartin and a £6.6 million sterling demand from the British Inland Revenue on May 12th, 1991, four days before a vote to rezone Quarryvale. A second article about Mr Gilmartin being declared bankrupt appeared on December 13th, 1992, four days before the second Quarryvale vote.
At the time, Mr Gilmartin and Mr O'Callaghan were partners in Quarryvale, now the Liffey Valley shopping centre. Mr O'Callaghan had engaged lobbyist Frank Dunlop and Mr Gilmartin maintained that Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Dunlop spoke to the press about his financial difficulties. He also said Mr O'Callaghan had told then minister for finance Albert Reynolds, after which his problems with the British Inland Revenue began.
Counsel for the tribunal, Patricia Dillon SC, said the December 13th article by journalist Ted Harding included information that Mr Gilmartin had no longer any interest in Quarryvale and asked Mr O'Callaghan if he had provided that false information. "I would not have given the information to Ted Harding at all . . ." Mr O'Callaghan said.
He accepted that he had spoken to Mr Harding on a number of occasions. He said it was probably "pure coincidence" that the two articles had appeared four days before Quarryvale votes.
