George Redmond Denies corruption charges
A former garage owner has claimed in court that he paid £10,000 in cash to the former Assistant Dublin City and County Manager to secure a right of way in Palmerstown in Dublin.
Brendan Fassnidge was giving evidence in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today on the opening day of George Redmond's trial on two charges of alleged corruption. The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.
Mr Fassnidge claims that George Redmond visited him in his home in Castleknock in Dublin in 1988. Mr Redmond had a glass of wine and Mr Fassnidge handed him a brown envelope containing £10,000 in cash.
Mr Fassnidge had planning permission for a garage on the Palmerstown bypass but the site was landlocked and the planning was conditional on his securing the right of way. There was no one else but George Redmond powerful enough to organise it, he said in court.
Three days after handing over the cash, Brendan Fassnidge said he collected his planning notification in the Co Council offices and never had any further contact with Mr Redmond.
Mr Fassnidge had visited the valuation office with Liam Lawlor, a witness in the case, and the right of way was valued at £30,000. He claimed he was unaware that the planning for the garage site was secured through a Section 4 motion proposed by Mr Lawlor.
It also emerged in cross-examination that at the time of the planning application the site was owned by a developer called Bill Riordan.
Nearly 50 State witnesses are due to be called during the trial and they include former FF TD Liam Lawlor, retired Dublin City and County Manager Frank Feely, and the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Felix McKenna.
In his usual warnings to jurors about eligibility to serve, Judge Michael White asked the panel to consider carefully their ability to approach the case with an open mind. A number of potential jurors were excused because of family business problems or because they knew some of the witnesses involved.
