Man recalls paying Redmond £10,000, court hears

Mr Liam Lawlor, the former TD, told the jury that he and other Dublin County Council members had been briefed by Mr Fassnidge about his difficulty getting planning permission for a petrol station on the then new Lucan bypass and that led to him proposing a "Section 4" motion which was adopted and directed Mr Redmond to grant permission for the project.

Mr Lawlor said he could not have involved in proposing the "Section 4" motion if the briefing had had not taken place. He also said he had been in contact many times over the years with Mr Fassnidge who was very prominent in his constituency, contrary to the latter's evidence on this.

Earlier, Mr Fassnidge, in his continued cross-examination, told defence counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, he had spoken to nobody about the question of the £10,000 cheque to the County Council for the right of way which was an essential condition of the planning permission granted.

He said the notes he had read in the court the previous day had helped jog his memory and insisted when pressed by counsel that he didn't discuss it with anyone.

"So I'm now suggesting there two payments, the cheque to the Council and the £10,000 cash I paid in my house to Mr Redmond", he said. Pressed further, he said it had gone out of his memory before this because it was all so long ago.

Mr Grehan said Mr Fassnidge had claimed he saw some of the documents produced to him for the first time in the court but counsel noted a statement he made and signed for Detective Garda Anthony in May 8, 2003 when several of these documents were shown to him.

Mr Fassnidge accepted he had agreed some documents bore his signature but he had also told Det Gda Scully he had not previously seen some of the other items.

Mr Lawlor said Mr Fassnidge had briefed him and other councillors at a meeting in the West County Hotel about his planning permission difficulties for the proposed petrol station. He had also phoned his office many times.

Mr Lawlor, who was tendered as a witness by the prosecution, said his involvement in the "Section 4" motion passed by the County Council in September 1987 directing Assistant County Manager, Mr Redmond, to grant planning permission arose out of the West County Hotel briefing.

Councillors felt they should pass this motion to help Mr Fassnidge who had lost his business when it went into liquidation and had nothing else at the time. There was a general willingness to do something that was practicable for Mr Fassnidge.

Mr Lawlor said he and other councillors felt there was "a lot of double-think" in the engineers' report before the Council objecting to planning permission being granted. He said the Council officials were prepared to allow another service station nearby which he and others believed was at a more dangerous junction.

Mr Lawlor also told Mr Grehan that Mr Fassnidge displayed "a serious hostility" towards Mr Redmond after the meeting in December 1987 with the valuation officer concerning the right-of-way from the public road to this service station.

He accompanied Mr Fassnidge to this meeting after the latter had contacted his office several times about the right-of-way issue.

Mr Lawlor said the Council put a price tag of £120,000 on the strip which to him seemed "exorbitant".

They reached no agreement with the valuation officer and witness went back about it to the manager, Mr Redmond, who said it was a matter for the valuation officer to negotiate.

Mr Michael McLoone, now retired as Chief Valuation Officer for the then Dublin Corporation, said they acted as valuing agents for the County Council.

His view at the time was that no charge should have been made for the strip of land required by Mr Fassnidge for the right of way. He thought its value was "nil" but one of the conditions set down when the "Section 4" motion was passed was for a price to be put on it.

Mr McLoone told Mr Grehan he believed an internal County Council memo from Mr Redmond to Mr Tom Doherty suggesting the £120,000 price was sent to his office to try to colour their view. The office was an independent unit in making valuations.

Mr John Faley, who was a valuation officer working under Mr McLoone, confirmed his note of the meetings with Mr Fassnidge and Mr Lawlor on December 14, 1987 and with Mr Fassnidge himself on January 18, 1988 where he was accompanied by Mr McLoone.

Mr Faley said he thought the £120,000 price was excessive though he asked for it.

This disappointed Mr Fassnidge and Mr Lawlor who said the figure was totally inappropriate and running contrary to the wishes of the councillors in the "Section 4" motion. He said the meeting was amicable "and we had no fisticuffs".

Mr Faley agreed with Mr Grehan he was also aware of a memo from the County Council roads engineers noting the cost of the road frontage at the petrol station was £71,500 and suggesting that value should be put on the strip. The planning permission was dependent on the right-of-way being granted to Mr Fassnidge.

Mr Grehan suggested that perhaps the Council officials who were "dead set" against the petrol station project were trying in this way to undermine the "Section 4" motion directing that planning permission be granted for it.

The hearing continues before Judge Michael White.