Fianna Fáil councillors held discussions and reached agreement on how to vote on proposals for developments at private meetings above Conway's pub in Dublin before they were debated on the floor of Dublin County Council, the tribunal heard yesterday.
Former Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Hanrahan said that while there were dissenting voices at the private meetings, he could not recall any party colleagues breaking ranks on the consensus reached in Conway's.
He also said that no councillor at the meetings had declared an interest in any development or mentioned receiving any payments from developers.
He agreed with counsel for the tribunal Patricia Dillon that the private meetings above Conway's was the place to get the party's backing for a development.
He also agreed that councillors would have been "derelict in their duty" not to have informed colleagues if they had received subscriptions from developers or lobbyists regarding a project.
He agreed with Ms Dillon that disputes would be thrashed out in advance and that the Fianna Fáil councillors would present a united front at the public meetings of the council. Mr Hanrahan said he received a cheque for £300 from Monarch Properties before the local elections in 1991.
He also received £300 in cash from a builder who had called to his house with another councillor.
The tribunal heard that former tánaiste Brian Lenihan received donations totalling £1,200 from Monarch in 1992.
The late Fianna Fáil TD for Meath, Colm Hilliard, received £1,000 from the company in 1993.
