FLASHBACK Former EU Commissioner, Pádraig Flynn, and the late Fianna Fáil TD, Liam Lawlor, arriving at the Mahon Tribunal in 2004. In more recent times, the evidence of Sligo property developer Tom Gilmartin has been heard by the tribunal. Pic: Graham Hughes/Photocall Ireland
The tribunal of entertainment
County View
John Healy
IT may have been several years since Tom Gilmartin last practised his talent for amateur dramatics, but the Sligo property developer is giving it the full monty at the Mahon Tribunal.
Blessed with the promise of total immunity for anything he says or does as the Tribunal’s star witness, he is making up in entertainment value for anything he lacks in credibility.
His stories of secret telephone tip-offs, of death threats against him, of massive pay-offs to named top politicians, of conspiracies and eavesdropping and skulduggery at every level, make for colourful entertainment. Names and reputations are thrown about with abandon, bribery allegations are made and withdrawn at the drop of a hat, hearsay and third hand rumour presented as impeccable evidence.
If Tom Gilmartin really was the fall guy he claims to have been, then his revenge is being fully vented at the Mahon Tribunal against those who did him down. But then it’s sometimes hard to take him seriously.
He told the tribunal of how, on one occasion, he had been attending a meeting in a Dublin hotel when he heard a rattling noise in a broom cupboard. When he opened the door, who fell out but rival developer Owen O’Callaghan, his competitor for Quarryvale, who had been hiding in the hope of overhearing some useful information.
When challenged that he had mistaken one Sinn Féin councillor for another in connection with a death threat, Tom’s observation was that, for that to happen,‘“he would have to be a total identical twin down to his teeth, and that’s unlikely’.
Like James Gogarty, who had also been granted immunity by the Mahon Tribunal, Tom Gilmartin is colourful, pugnacious and down-to-earth. He has succeeded in lifting the lid on the murky side of where developers, property speculators and politicians rub shoulders. And he has given the Tribunal a mountain of evidence to sift through.
Whether all of this justifies the €600 million already spent on the tribunals is another matter. There is a growing sense that the longer they run, the less likely the tribunals are to come up with definite, relative conclusions.
The former Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has predicted that the Mahon Tribunal costs will reach a final figure of €1 billion. More worrying, however, is the belief that the tribunal has turned into a non-stop roller coaster, with poorly defined goals and without a set time frame or deadline.
But what politician would be brave – or foolhardy – enough to risk closing down the tribunal for fear of being charged with a vested interest in so doing. Only a cross-party consensus to rein in the runaway pony, in the public interest, would do the trick. And perhaps, given the allegations being made against all and sundry by Tom Gilmartin, the star witness himself may just provide the catalyst to make the politicians cry halt.
MAYO RISES TO INNOVATION CHALLENGE
A LITTLE over a year since its official opening, the Castlebar Innovation Centre at GMIT has proved to be a great success.
Ten new start-up companies have joined the innovation centre, giving an occupancy rate of over 80 per cent, and ensuring that viable new products will be given the chance to grow their worth before being totally exposed to the harsh winds of the commercial world.
The take-up of space at the centre disproves the notion that entrepreneurship is a Cinderella concept in Ireland, or that Irish people somehow lack the ingenuity to progress new ideas.
The other aspect of the Centre is that it helps cater for the need to foster a knowledge-driven economy rather than depend on the traditional, but increasingly unreliable, manufacturing based economy.
Maria Staunton, Manager of the IBC, says that while many new high-tech start-up companies fail in the early years, statistics show that those who go through a process of incubation have a much higher chance of developing into sustainable businesses.
One of the new start-up companies in the Centre, In Time Media, has recently been awarded an Innovation Partnership Programme by Enterprise Ireland. This is a programme which assists Irish industry and third level colleges to work together on cutting edge research projects by providing financial support.
The IBC, however, is not just a provider of one-way traffic in technology and innovation. The proximity of the centre to the GMIT campus itself can only have major benefits for the student body, who now have the opportunity of putting their academic training to the test in the practical world of business and enterprise. On a broader level, the success of companies located at the IBC will act as a spur to increasing the numbers of people who will be prepaid to take a chance on starting up in business on their own.
Third level education is not an end in itself, and graduates in technology must learn to realise that there is a practical element to academic training. The IBC at the Castlebar GMIT is showing a lead in how those two worlds should mix.
VOTING WITH THEIR POCKETS?
A PERUSAL of the current Corrib Gas update magazine offers a clue as to one of the minor mysteries of last month’s general election results.
Many commentators have remarked on the poor voter support in the north Mayo region for Dr Jerry Cowley, whose political career had become so entwined with the Shell to Sea campaign over the past two years. In spite of giving his total commitment and much of his time to the protest, Dr Cowley was poorly thanked for his efforts when the ballot boxes were opened and the will of the people of Erris came tumbling out.
It would appear that, just as the nation as a whole voted for the financial security offered by Bertie Ahern, so did Erris opt for the steady and substantial income stream being generated by the Corrib operation.
With close to 400 jobs being provided directly by Corrib Gas, with hundreds of support jobs being sustained by the ancillary suppliers and contractors to the project, and with an estimated weekly spend of €2m in the Erris region, it is easy to see how pragmatism won the day over protest.
Add in the recruitment of 15 engineering apprentices, the launch of a third level scholarship scheme for the four secondary schools in the Erris region, and funding offers of up to €10,000 each for local community groups, and it becomes easier to see why public attitudes to Corrib Gas are less hard line than they were.
Twinning with Argentina
A FURTHER link in the developing relations between Argentina and Mayo will be forged at Castlebar this coming Friday when a formal twinning agreement will be signed at Áras an Chondae.
The formal twinning of Mayo County Council and the Municipalidad Almirante Brown will take place on the official birthday celebrations of the late founder of the Argentine Navy, Admiral William Brown, who was born in Foxford.
Representatives of the local authority in Argentina will arrive in Castlebar tomorrow to sign the historic document. They travel on a reciprocal visit of that two months ago when Cllr Gerry Coyle, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, led a large Mayo contingent to Argentina.
It is hoped that the twinning will provide the basis for future exchanges of a business, cultural and sporting nature between Mayo and the Municipidad, a county in Argentina which is named after Admiral Brown. The twinning itself is but one part of an ambitious programme of celebrations nationwide to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of the Argentinean naval hero.
DRINK DRIVING BANS IN CONFUSION
A BALLYHAUNIS solicitor has played a key role in highlighting a situation which has created confusion and inconsistencies across the country.
Local solicitor, Evan O’Dwyer, has applied for the restoration of a client’s driving licence after six months, following his conviction for drink driving.
However, he was told that under new penalties brought in by the Minister for Transport (but after the client had been tried originally), he was now facing a minimum 12 months ban, in spite of the fact that he had been convicted before the new penalties came into force.
Mr O’Dwyer argued that, unless it was specifically provided for, a law could not have a retrospective effect.
The Department of Transport took the opposite view, holding that the law was meant to be retrospective, and that a motorist dealt with under the older, more lenient regime was still bound by the conditions of the new scheme. Subsequent enquiries to various Garda divisions around the country revealed a huge inconsistency in the interpretation of the new law.
The end result? It seems that the crux could be the subject of an Irish solution to an Irish problem.
Legal experts say that the state may opt to let the issue quietly die, as the number of people affected continues to fall with the passage of time, and banned motorists serve out their disqualification and have their licences restored.
BRINGING BEVERLEY BACK
IT had all the hallmarks of an eleventh hour decision, but when Beverley Flynn told the media scrum on the plinth of Leinster House that she had indeed concluded a deal with Bertie Ahern for his re-election as Taoiseach, it raised more questions than it answered.
For days leading up to the formation of Government, the word had gone out that the Mayo deputy had pushed too hard in her dealings with Mr Ahern.
And as confirmation came through of deals done and dusted with Jackie Healy-Rae, Finian McGrath and Michael Lowry, it began to look as if Beverley’s breach with Fianna Fáil had reached unbridgeable dimensions.
Then, an hour before the 30th Dáil was due to assemble, Beverley broke her long silence to reveal that yes, she had done a deal and yes, she was very pleased with the outcome. But whether that entailed a junior ministry, or when, she was not prepared to say.
Nor was she prepared to say whether or not the agreement entailed her rejoining Fianna Fáil, despite a media assumption that this must have been part of any understanding reached with her former leader.
There is good reason to suspect that Mr Ahern, pragmatic to the last, will view Beverley’s return to the fold as crucial to Fianna Fáil’s future in Mayo. He as much said so at the week-end while also hinting that Deputy Flynn might yet achieve ministerial status as a Fianna Fáil TD.
The meltdown in the party’s vote in west Mayo, the shambolic state of what was once a model of local organisation, the loyalty which the Flynn name still commends among Fianna Fáil traditionalists, all point to some serious rift healing in the coming months.
In two years time, the state of Fianna Fáil in Mayo will face a stern test in the county council elections. Mr Ahern will be demanding a far better performance in Castlebar and Ballina where, last time, the party could only manage two seats out of six.
And if that means reconstructing the organisation in Castlebar around Beverley Flynn, then Mr Ahern won’t have the slightest hesitation in lifting the contentious expulsion order which has caused more problems than it has solved.
