A former Fianna Fáil county councillor has strenuously denied allegations that he received a £1,000 "inducement" from lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop to vote for the rezoning of land at Carrickmines, Co Dublin.
Mr Seán Gilbride told the planning tribunal that the only money he received from Mr Dunlop was a £2,000 political donation before the local elections in 1991, a year before the 1992 rezoning vote on the 108 acres at Paisley Park, Carrickmines.
The councillor for the Balbriggan ward from 1985 to 1999 said he always voted for rezoning motions if Fianna Fáil councillors from the area were in favour.
However, Judge Mary Faherty pointed out that in the vote on the Carrickmines lands that night, three Fianna Fáil councillors from the area voted against the rezoning while just two voted for it, including Mr Gilbride, and one abstained.
Mr Gilbride said he had never asked anybody for a contribution, even though he accepted that the £2,000 from Mr Dunlop was "10 or 20 times" what he normally received in political donations.
Asked about the donation, he said he got a phone call from Mr Dunlop who wanted to meet him.
"He came to my house after 9 o'clock and gave me £2,000 which he said was for the local elections. He asked me to sign a receipt on his own headed notepaper."
Mr Gilbride wasn't surprised by the cash donation as it was for the local elections.
Mr Pat Quinn SC for the tribunal pointed out that there was a meeting in Mr Dunlop's office on the "eve of a crucial vote" on the Carrickmines lands.
The former councillor accepted that he voted for the rezoning of land even though he only vaguely knew where it was, that he ignored the views of the planning experts and that he did not know who was developing it.
He also said he was aware of rumours of planning corruption and that there was a Garda inquiry. He was phoned by a Garda inspector who asked him if he had received any illegal payments and he said he had not. The conversation only lasted about two or three minutes and that was the end of the matter.
The tribunal chairman,Judge Alan Mahon, said however that "surely it must have been a huge topic of conversation between you and your colleagues that there were allegations of corruption and that the gardaí were involved". He said he might have mentioned it to one or two other councillors but that was it.
Judge Gerald Keys expressed surprise that he was not "alarmed" to have received a call asking whether he had received illegal payments, but Mr Gilbride said he was not.
He told the tribunal on day 402 of its public hearings that shortly after he was interviewed privately by the tribunal in 1998, he was summoned to a Fianna Fáil meeting where party officers appeared to know that he had talked to the tribunal and what the meeting was about, even though he had told nobody.
Asked why he did not tell the tribunal about the £2,000 donation in that private interview, the former councillor replied that it was a political donation for the local elections. Mr Gilmore said nobody had to ask him to vote for the Quarryvale development because he supported it.
He accepted that there were a number of meetings with Mr Dunlop although he did not recall them all. He said they related to Quarryvale. The chairman asked why he would go to so much trouble to attend meetings at Mr Dunlop's office a long distance from his home and office about a development with which he broadly agreed. Mr Gilbride said it could have been for clarification.
The tribunal resumes on Tuesday at 10.30 a.m.
