Digout case win ‘a blow for tribunal credibility’

As two f indings against Des Richardson quashed, he slams ‘unfair’ inquiry

BUSINESSMAN Des Richardson believes the Mahon Tribunal’s credibility has been damaged by the court case he won against it this week, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

On Monday, the Court of Appeal forced the tribunal to quash two findings in its report against Mr Richardson, who arranged financial ‘digouts’ for former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The former Fianna Fáil fundraiser told the MoS that he and his friends were treated unfairly by the tribunal. His claims are supported by a succession of court reversals against the planning inquiry.

This is the second time the tribunal has revised findings against the businessman in the last two years.

He and two other businessmen – Charlie Chawke and Dermot Carew – who also contributed digouts to their friend Mr Ahern – had findings of non-cooperation against them overturned.

There have been other reversals of findings against high-profile figures such as Ray Burke and Joseph Murphy that raise serious questions about how the 15-year tribunal conducted its work. These decisions have cost the State millions in legal costs.

On Monday, Mr Richardson’s appeal against the High Court’s rejection of his challenge concerning two findings in the final report of the tribunal was successful.The court agreed that he had never been questioned about the source of IR£39,000 at the tribunal.

‘It seemed obvious to me that this was a completely unfair finding against me. I was not asked about these funds at any stage,’ said Mr Richardson.

‘It took me five years in the courts to have this resolved.’

Mr Richardson had appealed against a March 2013 judgment of Judge Elizabeth Dunne, then a High Court judge, in which she accepted there was a mistake in the disputed findings relating to Mr Richardson but said it was up to the tribunal, not the court, to correct it. The appeal decision means that the tribunal must quash both sections in its report, as published on its website.

Mr Richardson also obtained substantial costs for an expensive legal action that began in 2013.

‘That is another decision of this tribunal that has been overturned against me,’ he said. ‘They withdrew a non-cooperation finding [in 2015]. Dermot Carew and Charlie Chawke have also had findings overturned,’ he added.

‘It is now a pretty obvious question to ask – why were these findings made in the first place? You can only surmise that the findings were made against us because of who we were and because of our friendship with Bertie Ahern.

‘I don’t think that’s a fair way to treat anybody. When you look at these decisions and all the other decisions against this tribunal you have to question its credibility.’

The three-judge court agreed this week that Mr Richardson was deprived of fair procedures in how the tribunal reached the two disputed findings.

The Tribunal of Inquiry Into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, otherwise known as the Mahon Tribunal, ran from November 1997 to March 2012.