This article is from page 3 of the 2006-02-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
CLARE Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Daly has confirmed he is one of a group of politicians who has changed hotels in Dublin, in the wake of revelations that the hotel he has stayed in for a number of years is at the centre of a major investigation.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) raided the well-known hotel last week, as part of an investigation into suspected paramilitary links to a €100 million property empire. It was one of 20 businesses and homes in Dublin and Meath searched by CAB last week.
At least two dozen politicians, including Defence Minister Willie O’Dea and Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Noel Treacy, were among the high-profile politicians who have stayed at this hotel during their midweek visits to Dublin.
Senator Daly has stayed at the hotel since he was elected to the Seanad in 2002. He checked out late last week and does not plan to return there, at least until after the CAB investigation is complete.
“I moved hotel when there was allegations made that the hotel was involved in moneylaundering. I was in the Council of Europe in Paris the week before last and I moved last week,” Senator Daly told The Clare People .
“A whole lot of others moved until the issue is clarified,” he said. “I won’t be going back there this week,” he said, adding that he was shocked to hear the hotel had been searched.
He stressed however that he made the decision on a personal basis and not on advice from party headquarters.
“Nobody from the party contacted me and said ‘You are in a place being investigated for money laundering.’ Word went around the hotel among the guests,” he pointed out.
Senator Daly previously stayed at this hotel in the 1980s and in between times had stayed at a variety of other hotels and guesthouses during his weekly visits to the capital.
“I have stayed there ten years or more, off and on, over the years,” he said.
He said his decision to move hotel is a “disaster from the point of view of convenience”, as he is moving to a hotel which is further away from Leinster House, where the Seanad sits.
He said while the news was difficult for staff, he didn’t “believe personally that CAB could take away all the records, unless they could justify it.”