Liam Thomas Cosgrave (born 30 April 1956) is an Irish former

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

politician who served as

Leas-Chathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish for chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach is Fianna Fáil Senat ...

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

from 1997 to 2002,

Cathaoirleach Cathaoirleach (; Irish language, Irish for Chair (officer), chairperson; plural: ) is the title of the chair (or speaker (politics), presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Repub ...

from 1996 to 1997 and a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

from 1993 to 2002. He previously served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

constituency from 1981 to 1987. Coming from a

political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly Election, electoral politics. Members may be related by consanguinity, blood or marriage; often several gene ...

, he is the son of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Liam Cosgrave Liam Cosgrave (13 April 1920 – 4 October 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs fro ...

and grandson of the first President of the Executive Council

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish politician who served as the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, Leader of the Opposition from 1932 to 1944, Leader of Fine Gael ...

Politics

He was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

at the 1981 general election as a

TD for

, and re-elected at the February 1982 and November 1982 general elections. He lost his seat at the 1987 general election, and was unsuccessful again at the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

general elections. He was elected to

in 1989 as a Senator for the

, serving as

, and was re-elected in 1993 and 1997. At the 2002 general election, he was again an unsuccessful candidate for the Dáil in Dún Laoghaire, and he did not contest the Seanad elections of that year. The

Mahon Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Republic of Ireland, Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investiga ...

, set up to investigate allegations of corruption among Irish politicians, heard in 2003 that Cosgrave had accepted illegal payments from property developers in return for voting to rezone property in Dublin. He resigned from the Fine Gael party when this became known, thereby effectively ending his political career. He did not seek re-election to

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council () is the local authority of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on its abolition on 1 January 1994 a ...

at the 2004 local elections. On 17 October 2005, Cosgrave pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to disclose to the

Standards in Public Office Commission The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) () is an independent body established in December 2001 by the Government of Ireland, Irish Government under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. It replaced the Public Offices Commission which h ...

a political donation of £2,500 received from lobbyist Frank Dunlop in the course of the 1997 general election. He was sentenced on 26 May 2006 to perform 75 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

in lieu of a six-month custodial sentence.

Mahon Tribunal

Cosgrave appeared at the Mahon Tribunal on 14 July 2006 in relation to a planning application from Monarch Properties to re-zone at

Cherrywood, Dublin Cherrywood () is a developing suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Cabinteely, Loughlinstown and Rathmichael. It is located to the southeast of the city, in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The development commenced on a greenfield site in 1998 a ...

. He told the Tribunal that his decision to support the re-zoning was not a U-turn in return for a political donation. But he could not recall the reason for his decision. He said that he could not recollect whether he had received any donations from Monarch, or other developers at the time; but that there could have been some.

Criminal Assets Bureau investigation and subsequent legal actions

The

Criminal Assets Bureau The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) () is a law enforcement agency in Ireland. The CAB was established with powers to focus on the illegally acquired assets of criminals involved in serious crime. The aims of the CAB are to identify the criminally ...

secured a High Court order preventing the sale of of land assets owned by Jackson Way Properties Ltd in

Carrickmines Carrickmines () is an outer suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. The area, still semi-rural, was historically on the border of English control and featured a defensive construction, Carrickmines Castle, which became the subje ...

. An investigation of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

was being instituted on the basis of

bribes Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

allegedly paid to councillors by Frank Dunlop to secure re-zoning on 16 December 1997. The re-zoning was investigated by the Mahon Tribunal in 2003. On 26 October 2010, Cosgrave appeared at Dublin District Court charged with five offences. He is alleged to have received corrupt payments between 1992 and 1997 in relation to the re-zoning of Jackson Way Properties Ltd. In April 2012, he failed in his attempt to stop his trial on corruption charges. The

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld the High Court's decision by a majority of three to two. He went on trial in the

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court The Circuit Court () of Ireland is an intermediate level court of local and limited jurisdiction which hears both civil and criminal matters. On the criminal side the Circuit Court hears criminal matters tried on indictment with a judge and jury ...

on 4 July 2013, on five counts of corruptly receiving money on dates between June 1992 and December 1997. The trial subsequently collapsed, and a ''

nolle prosequi , abbreviated or , is legal Latin meaning "to be unwilling to pursue".Nolle prosequi
. refe ...

'' verdict was entered on the record.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrave, Liam T. 1956 births Living people Cathaoirligh of Seanad Éireann Children of Taoisigh Liam Thomas Members of Dublin County Council Fine Gael TDs Members of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Council Members of the 19th Seanad Members of the 20th Seanad Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 22nd Dáil Members of the 23rd Dáil Members of the 24th Dáil People educated at Castleknock College Fine Gael senators Industrial and Commercial Panel senators