The Workers’ Party has welcomed the jail sentence for former Fianna Fáil and Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop after his corruption conviction saying the next step should be to pursue those who gave and received the corrupt payments or bribes.

Workers Party President Michael Finnegan said that the jailing of Mr. Dunlop was fully justified but it must not be forgotten that former PR executive was only the middleman between a number of major property developers and Dublin county councillors in which public officials had also been implicated.

“Frank Dunlop has been found guilty of making corrupt payments on behalf of developers who made a lot of money from the decisions made.  Those speculators who gave the money to Mr. Dunlop and those councillors who accepted  payments from him in the full knowledge that they were corrupt are equally as guilty, and perhaps even more so”, said Michael Finnegan.

“It is also necessary to point out that these corrupt decisions had very serious consequences for the quality of life of many thousands of Dublin people such as the people of Lucan Clondalkin and who were left without a proper town centre with proper facilities because of the abandonment of the Myles Wright plan.  People are still living with the consequences of this bribery and all those responsible, not just the middleman, must be brought to justice”, the Workers Party President said.

Michael Finnegan is standing for the local elections to South Dublin County Council in the Lucan area.

Issued Tuesday, 26th May 2009