New details of Dunlop's Richardson links revealed: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2003/11/02 > New details of Dunlop's Richardson links revealed

New details of Dunlop's Richardson links revealed
Sunday, November 02, 2003

By Ted Harding

As the Mahon Tribunal subjects Frank Dunlop's already ravaged credibility to intense probing, new evidence has emerged about his secret business relationship with top Fianna Fail fundraiser Des Richardson.

The Sunday Business Post has obtained copies of invoices sent by a mysterious company controlled by Richardson seeking payment from Dunlop's public relations firm.The confidential documents (shown above) show that Richardson, a close associate of Taois each B ertie A her n, sought payment from Dunlop on three occasions between October 1997 and September 1998.

Richardson was Fianna Fail's official chief fundraiser from March 1993 until 1999 and operated from plush offices in the Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin. Despite the ending of his formal fund-raising role, the Taoiseach's friend remains an important figure in attracting much-needed cash for the party. As in previous years, he featured prominently at Fianna Fa il's successful Galway races event last August, where eager donors were relieved of cash in support of the cause.

Previously, this newspaper has revealed that Berraway, a company controlled by Richardson, was receiving regular payments from a diverse range of apparently unconnected businesses in the mid-to-late 1990s. From 1992 until Berraway was dissolved in 1999, Dunlop was a share-holder in the company. Ac-cording to bank records, from August 1996 until early 2000, over »850,000 (e1.08 million) passed through a Berraway account. Now new details of the company's affairs have emerged.

Berraway has been the subject of investigations by the Mahon inquiry since revelations about its links to Dunlop were published by this newspaper last year. The Revenue Commissioners have also been examining its affairs.

Each of the invoices seeking payment from Dunlop's firm was written on Berraway's letter-headed paper. The first payment was detailed on a document produced on October 30, 1997. Berraway billed Dunlop's firm - Frank Dunlop & Associates - for »8,336 (e10,586) plus Vat relating to the period July - October 1997.

Asecondinvoice, dated March 31,1998, sought the payment of fees due for November and December 1997 and for January-March1998.Thetotal amount was »10,416 (e13,225) plusVat.

The final document obtained by this newspaper details a sum of »6,249.99 (e7,936) plus Vat, which appears on an invoice dated September 1998. None of the invoices describes the nature of the work for which the fees were claimed. Pressed for answers by this newspaper, Richardson and Dunlop have maintained a studied silence.

Some sources close to the pair have suggested that the money was payable after Richardson "introduced" some of his business contacts to Dunlop. Richardson's closeness to Ahern gave him access, which would be valued by individuals wishing to make contact with the Taoiseach. Aside from his job with Fianna Fail, Richardson also developed a network of business contacts. He was appointed to the board of Aer Lingus byAhern's government in 1997. He is also a longtime associate of Marlborough Recruitment founder Dave McKenna.

As a result of any introductions made by Richardson, Dunlop may have acted for the individuals or their businesses as a lobbyist or consultant.

However this "explanation" of events is expected to be subjected to thorough examination by the Mahon inquiry. Dunlop and Richardson were in regular contact as both became more prominent in business and political circles during the 1990s. Far from being casual acquaintances involved in occasional business ventures, they are said to have had weekly meetings at the Berkeley Court Hotel. It is likely that the MahonTribunal team will be keen to discover the content of their conversations in the discreet confines of the Dublin 4 hotel.

Meanwhile at the Mahon Tribunal, Dunlop's ever-changing versions of events as he is questioned about his notorious period as a lobbyist for prop erty develop ers and others is enough to induce coronaries among erstwhile clients and business partners.

The disgraced lobbyist has piled on the misery for the hapless GV Wright of Fianna Fail. But, by contrast, top Dublin accountant Noel Fox recently emerged as an innocent figure in the lobbyist's revised account of a proposed land rezoning in north Dublin.

There is a morbid fascination in waiting to see whose reputation is next to sustain massive damage as Dunlop continues his star turn in Dublin Castle as the country's most affected, self-regarding tribunal supergrass.

Richardson's business affairs have been the subject of extensive examination due to his association with Dunlop. Within the ranks of Fianna Fail, unease has turned into barely concealed anxiety as more and more details of Richardson's byzantine financial affairs have been exposed.

The purposes for which Berraway was used and the work Richardson did to merit the waves of cash washing into at least one of its bank ac-counts remain shrouded in mystery. But investigations by this newspaper have allowed for a glimpse into its affairs.

Berraway operated from the same address as Dunlop's public relations firm, Frank Dunlop & Associates, at 25 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2. His once high-flying consultancy has been consigned to the murky past of 1990s Ireland, having suffered an exodus of clients after its principal confessed three years ago to his central role in Dublin planning corruption.

Meath property developer Eamonn Duignan became a director of Berraway in the early 1990s, but his involvement with the firm ceased in late 1995 or early 1996. Duignan and Dunlop were listed as shareholders in the firm. Berraway functioned as a property development vehicle until late 1995 and it was controlled by Duignan and Richardson.The latter acted as a shadow director. And while Dunlop was a passive shareholder, he was consulted on any issues affecting the company, Duignan has confirmed.

Once Duignan's role with the firm ended, its control passed to Richardson. But Richardson's position was not notified to the Companies Registration Office, nor was Duignan's resignation.

While Berraway does not appear to have become the vehicle for any identifiable venture, it received payments from some leading names in Irish business. Documents obtained by this newspaper point to a relationship with Rohan Holdings, the construction firm controlled by Ken Rohan,the multi-millionaire property magnate.

It has been reported that Richardson was receiving »1,000 (e1,270) per month from Rohan for an unspecified period. An invoice on Berraway's letterhead published by the Post last year indicated that a payment of »10,000 (e12,697), plus Vat, was sought from Rohan Holdings on February 24, 1997.The bill referred to "Final payment due under previously agreed strategic consultancy advice".

The type of "consultancy" services provided remains unknown. Both Richardson and Rohan failed to respond when questioned about the matter by this newspaper. As a "final payment" was referred to in the document, it is not clear how long the arrangement was in place or how much money had been demanded.

The emergence of Richardson's ties to Rohan was doubly embarrassing for theTaoiseach and his political intimates. A provision of the Finance Act 1994, which was introduced by Ahern while he was minister for finance, is reckoned to have saved Rohan »1.5 million (e1.905 million) in benefit-inkind tax on his valuable art collection. Added to this, Rohan appeared to be the sole beneficiary of the tax break.

But Rohan Holdings was only one of the eclectic band of businesses linked to Berraway. The firm received funds from Dublin advertising firm Arks and from security firm RMI, among whose specialisms is advising on kidnap avoidance. When Arks was questioned about its dealings with Berraway, the firm said that Richardson had been a "consultant" to it and advised on "restructuring".

Given the amount of detail about his financial affairs that is still emerging, Richardson may need all his diverse range of "consultancy" skills to deal with the raft of questions that will inevitably follow from the tribunal and elsewhere.