Two attempts made to bribe me: Lynch

Former TD and chairman of Meath County Council Michael Lynch has revealed that he was offered at least two 'major' bribes during his long career in local and national politics. The Oldcastle businessman, politician and well-known musician is stepping down from the council after a 42-year career in politics during which he became one of the most prominent politicians representing the north Meath area. One of the bribes offered to Cllr Lynch when he was chairman of Meath County Council and he says was made by a property developer who was anxious to get a planning application quickly processed through the system. The councillor said he was insulted by the approach. 'The developer stopped me crossing the road and I won"t say what I said to him but he had a pretty sore back when he was leaving. This guy wanted to push through a planning application and felt that it would go through faster if he approached the chairman of the county council,' he said. 'There were two guys present, they were nice, respectable-looking. The application went through afterwards, but in the normal process,' he added. 'I had actually attended a funeral. They waved me down, came over to talk to me and I just thought it would be a normal conversation. We were leaning on the top of my car, he pulled out a cheque book, and said, 'yes, name your price",' added Cllr Lynch. 'I said 'no, I don"t work that way". I was insulted that he should approach me in that way,' he added. 'I couldn"t point a finger at any councillor who would take a bribe. In my experience they are people of the highest integrity,' he added. Cllr Lynch also claimed he was offered a bribe in relation to another project which he also refused in the most strenuous fashion. Since 1967, the Fianna Fail councillor has been continually returned to the Meath County Council, regaining his seat in successive local elections while he also elected to the Dail Eireann twice during the 1980s and served as a senator for four years. Lynch also topped the poll for Fianna Fail in the Meath constituency in the 1987 general election, although he was to lose his seat two years later in what he described as the most 'dirty' election he had ever been involved in when elements within his own part try to undermine his campaign. In a wide-ranging interview with the Meath Chronicle this week to mark his retirement, Cllr Lynch recounts a number of episodes from his varied career. A reception was held in Oldcastle recently to mark his retirement from politisc which was attended by former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. In the interview, published on page 20, Cllr Lynch recounts a number of episodes from his life in politics and music. Among his more notable achievements was getting elected to the Dail on two occasions in 1982 and in attracting a large number of first preference votes in 1987 when he was one of 81 Fianna Fail TDs who got the nod from the electorate.