The Flood Tribunal came a step closer today to finding out who owns a property company it is investigating. The High Court ruled that the solicitor acting for Jackson Way Properties must tell the Tribunal who instructed him on their behalf. The Tribunal believes that money was paid to politicians by or on behalf of Jackson Way to secure the rezoning of land it owned in South County Dublin.
Jackson Way Properties owns land in Carrickmines in South County Dublin and the Flood Tribunal wants to unravel the mystery surrounding the identity of the company owners. The company is registered abroad but the Tribunal believes the beneficial owners are Irish and the High Court was told during recent proceedings that they had gone to elaborate lengths to disguise their identities. The previous owners are also proving hard to trace and the Tribunal believes the beneficial ownership of both companies is the same.
The Tribunal says that it has been informed that money was paid to politicians to secure the rezoning of the Jackson Way lands at Carrickmines. Solicitor Stephen Miley acts for Jackson Way. He took High Court action challenging the Tribunal's right to ask him to name his clients. The High Court said today that he was not entitled to claim a privilege over the identity of his clients. Legal professional privilege can only be invoked in respect of legal advice and not legal assistance.
Last year, when RTÉ correspondent Charlie Bird asked Frank Dunlop to introduce him to the owner of Jackson Way Properties, he was introduced to solicitor John Caldwell. Mr Caldwell, RTÉ also revealed, was involved in the mid-90s with Liam Lawlor in a row over the ownership of a service pipeline in Lucan. The company in that case, Pentagon Property Services Ltd, was owned by a Scottish businessman. The other major shareholder was Jim Kennedy, the gaming arcade owner who RTÉ news believes was a previous owner of the lands at Carrickmines, now owned by Jackson Way.
