The saga surrounding attempts to extort money from Cllr Michael Fahy took another bizarre turn this week when it emerged that a local businessman had offered Cllr Fahy a bribe in exchange for dropping his complaint against a man who was convicted of attempted theft in Galway Circuit Court last week.
It is understood Cllr Fahy recently made a complaint to gardaí that he had been approached by a businessman who offered him money in return for dropping his complaint against Padraic Walsh, the man who, on the second day of his trial last week, pleaded guilty to attempting to extort money from the Ardrahan councillor.
Walsh had claimed he had taped information which would help Cllr Fahy in his upcoming appeal on a fraud charge, and sought €5,000 in return for a number of tapes and CDs which had no relevance to the councillor’s case. Walsh received a 12-month suspended sentence last week.
It is understood gardaí in Gort launched an investigation into Cllr Fahy’s complaint, and a local businessman was subsequently questioned in relation to the claim. A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and gardaí are currently awaiting a response.