Mr Tom Gilmartin fled the rural hardship of Co Sligo as a young man and returned from Britain in the late 1980s as a successful developer.
His plans for two grandiose shopping centres at Quarryvale in west Dublin and Bachelors Walk in the city centre were welcomed by politicians. But his projects ran into a series of political, planning and legal difficulties. Mr Gilmartin says he was importuned by a variety of politicians. His allegations, which began to leak out in media reports in the late 1980s, have been referred to the Flood tribunal. He is expected to give evidence next year.