Former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall, a former co-accused of Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch who has turned State's witness, has denied he used the promise of bomb timers as "a bargaining tool" to get dissident republicans to mediate in the Hutch/Kinahan feud.
Under cross-examination for a sixth day, Mr Hutch's defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC accused Dowdall of having told an "opportunistic lie" to the court and "seizing on" it, when the former electrician said an excerpt from the audio recording - "I know you've more balls than any c*** I know like, doing that and all" - referred to the accused's role in the Regency attack.
The former politician also denied that references he made on the recording about bombing a house in Finglas or having the IRA grab two people and "whack" one of them were real, he insisted they were just "nonsense", "hypothetical stuff" and "none of it ever happened".
As court finished up for the day, Dowdall asked the judges how many more days would he "be here" in the witness box. Presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns said she had no control over this and that it was a matter for Mr Grehan to cross-examine him as he saw fit.
Recordings
The defence played further excerpts on Tuesday from secret garda recordings of conversations between Gerard Hutch and Dowdall while they were allegedly travelling north to a meeting in Strabane in Co Tyrone on Monday, March 7th 2016. After certain clips were played, Mr Grehan asked the witness to explain to the court what was said in these recorded conversations.
The State's case is that Mr Hutch had asked Jonathan Dowdall to arrange a meeting with his provisional republican contacts to mediate or resolve the Hutch-Kinahan feud due to the threats against the accused's family and friends.
The Special Criminal Court has viewed CCTV footage of what the State says is Mr Hutch making two separate journeys to Northern Ireland with Dowdall on February 20th and March 7th, 2016, just weeks after Mr Byrne was murdered.
Gerard Hutch (59), last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, denies the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne (33) during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on February 5th, 2016.
In his direct evidence last week, Dowdall testified that Gerard Hutch told him in a park several days after the Regency attack, in or around February 8th 2016, that he and another man had shot Mr Byrne at the hotel.
The ex-politician testified that the accused said he "wasn't happy about shooting the young lad David Byrne and David Byrne being killed". Asked by prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC if Mr Hutch had said who had shot Mr Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, Dowdall replied: "He said it was him and 'Mago' Gately".
Mr Grehan, representing Mr Hutch, opened his cross-examination last Tuesday by telling Dowdall that he wanted to be "very clear" that the defence position was that the witness had told "two big lies" to the court, namely that his client had collected keys cards for a room at the Regency Hotel from Dowdall and his father on Richmond Road on February 4th 2016 and that Gerard Hutch had "confessed" to him in a park several days later.
Mediation
Mr Grehan asked Dowdall today about discussing mediation in the audio recording and how Gerard Hutch had made a comment that it's "very hard to get involved where the Kinahans are concerned coz it doesn't work, the messenger gets it". Dowdall said he did not know the Kinahans but agreed that Mr Hutch had said this.
Mr Grehan asked the witness about another part in the recording, where Dowdall told the accused about "particular yokes that was used". Dowdall said he was talking about particular guns used in the Regency attack. Asked if he knew a gun could be traced, the witness said he didn't as he does not know anything about guns.
Mr Grehan put it to Dowdall if he was serious considering he had such a huge interest in crime and television, the witness repeated that he didn't know if guns could be traced.
The barrister told the witness, "You know Mr Hutch is hard of hearing". Dowdall said he knew this.
Counsel put it to the State's witness that Gerard Hutch is referring "the whole time in the third person; they did this, they didn't want" when talking about the Regency hit team and hadn't used the words "we".
Mr Grehan also put it to Dowdall that the accused doesn't say or lapse into "we did this or we did that" at any stage to which the witness replies, "he did at other stages".
In the recording Dowdall says: "I know you have more balls than any c*** I know like, doing that and all". The witness told Mr Grehan that this comment referred to the Regency shooting, but counsel said there was no reference in that part of the recording to the Regency.
"You are simply being opportunistic today trying to seize on that," said counsel. Dowdall denied this assertion.
IRA
During another stage of his cross-examination, Dowdall told counsel he had made him out to be a member of the IRA "for days" and if he was ever in the IRA then the gardaí would have known as he was under 24 hour surveillance.
Mr Grehan called this nonsense and asked the witness on "what basis was his house searched on March 9th".
Dowdall said his house was raided for firearms and explosives on suspected membership of the IRA. In reply, Mr Grehan said the witness was going on about his house being under surveillance as if it was some kind of alibi for him.
The key prosecution witness agreed with counsel that he had referred to "Fluff Gallagher" in the audio recording as the main leader of the INLA on March 7th. "I don't know if he was then, I heard years ago he was," said Dowdall.
At another point, Mr Grehan put it to the witness that he had referred to meeting the Continuity IRA in Armagh, which Dowdall denied.
"Then why are you saying it," asked the barrister.
"I don't know," said Dowdall.
"Is it a lie?" pressed Mr Grehan.
"I never met anyone from the Continuity IRA. I said a lot of things on those tapes," continued Dowdall.
"If you are saying it never happened is this a lie?" asked counsel. "I don't know," said Dowdall.
Bomb timers
Dowdall also said he never planned to give "electrical circuits" to the republicans as they never existed. "If I had given them they wouldn't have had to keep asking would they," said Dowdall. He also said if anything had happened to an innocent person or kids then he would not have been able to live with that.
Dowdall continued: "It was a demand put on me since probably around February 12th and that's March 7th; they never got it and it never happened". Asked about his reason for not handing over the electrical circuits to the republicans, which he agreed were bomb timers, Dowdall said it was because they did not exist.
"Isn't that a dangerous thing to be promising something you can't deliver on to the IRA," said the barrister.
Dowdall said he was booked to go away to Dubai. "I wasn't coming home, I had set up work in Dubai and I was staying in Dubai," he said.
Mr Grehan put it to the witness that he had told Gerard Hutch "I wouldn't give them everything until they see Kinahan" and that he was using a bomb timer as a "bargaining tool".
"You were suggesting not giving it until they talk to Kinahan," asked Mr Grehan.
"No, I didn't have it," said the witness.
Charges
Dowdall (44) was charged on April 27th 2021 with the murder of Mr Byrne at the Regency Hotel but pleaded guilty in advance of the trial to a lesser charge of facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available for use by the perpetrators the night before the attack.
He was jailed by the Special Criminal Court for four years for the facilitation offence. Following Dowdall's sentence on October 3, a nolle prosequi - a decision not to proceed - was entered on the murder charge against the former Dublin city councillor.
The prosecution case is that the late dissident republican Kevin Murray used the hotel room that was booked at the Regency on the night of February 4th, that he was the man seen wearing a flat cap when Mr Byrne was killed and that he cooperated with the "tactical team" that raided the Regency Hotel on February 5th. Mr Murray died from motor neurone disease in 2017 before he could be brought to trial.
Dowdall has previous convictions for false imprisonment, threatening to kill and causing serious harm from January 2015.
Mr Hutch's two co-accused - Paul Murphy (61), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 have pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5th, 2016.
