LIFFEY VALLEY ARCHITECT TELLS ALL

PATRICIA DILLON SC, Counsel for the Tribunal, asked Quarrvale architect Ambrose Kelly why he had not provided any documentation required by Order for Discovery relating to his dealings with Liam Lawlor, Frank Dunlop or Owen O’Callaghan from 1990 to 1992.

The Quarryvale architect, accounted for a four year delay in responding to the Tribunal’s Order for Discovery (April 2000 to March 2004) by assuring Ms Dillon and the Chairman that he had done everything in his power to provide the requested files from the early 90s.

Mr Kelly has worked with Cork developer Mr Owen O’Callaghan for some years prior to his involvement with Quarryvale. The developer and the architect drew up plans for what would eventually become the Liffey Valley Centre in West Dublin.

The Tribunal’s evidence, contained in the diaries of former government press secretary Frank Dunlop, showed numerous meetings between Owen O’Callaghan, Frank and Ambrose Kelly during ‘91-’92. Yet Mr. Kelly, director of the Ambrose Kelly Group and chief architect for the Liffey Valley project, retained no records, diaries or notes of any description relating to any meetings, phone calls or correspondence with Owen O’Callaghan, Frank Dunlop or Liam Lawlor (dscd).

Judge Keys was puzzled that Mr Kelly, as both company director and architect, with a staff of 12, operated a business practice which retained no office diary or record of any sort relating to business meetings of his company in the period 1990-1992.

Mr Kelly assured the Tribunal that it was by no means the company’s practice to destroy documents during that period, and considered the relocation of his company offices as the possible reason for the dearth of documentation.

ENDS