Michael Lowry loves property development, be it extending his own Tipperary mansion (with cash secretly provided by Ben Dunne), buying and renovating a house in Dublin (with the financial help of Michael Smurfit’s right-hand man, the late David Austin), making speculative investments in the north of England (assisted by money from Denis O'Brien’s bank accounts, although the businessman testified to the Moriarty tribunal that he was unaware a third party had done this and it was without his approval) or just helping others. Such activity has landed the Tipperary North TD in all sorts of trouble, including long-running investigation by that tribunal, outcome awaited, and probes by the Revenue Commissioners resulting in the payment of massive amounts of overdue tax.

Such misfortune has not prevented his constituents from re-electing him to the Dail three times since he resigned as a minister in late 1996. Last week Lowry emerged as the one of the public spokesmen for an incredible new idea, a €450m development for North Tipperary proposed by Richard Quirke, a former local garda who became rich by operating “gaming machines” in Dublin city centre “emporia” and using the proceeds to speculate in property.

The proposal would have been highly ambitious in the heady days of the Celtic tiger. Quirke wants to buck the conventional wisdom that property development is a dead duck by building a giant casino, a 500hundred room luxury hotel, a golf course, an all-weather horse-racing track, a greyhound racing circuit, shops and a full replica of the White House, recreating the original interiors that were lost to renovation. There’ll be an underground entertainment centre with a retractable roof capable of holding 15,000, a rural alternative to the O2 in Dublin; a chapel; parking for 8,000 cars and aerial access.

Quirke has spent €30m assembling the 800-acre site and last Wednesday lodged a planning application with North Tipperary county council, promising 1,000 local jobs during the construction phase and 2,000 afterwards. Lowry is confident there will be no local objections and that work can start next year.

Despite the local TD’s optimism, Quirke has more than a few obstacles to overcome. There is a massive surplus of hotel accommodation in the country, golf clubs do not have enough paying members to cover overheads, Horse Racing Ireland is talking of shutting courses because they cannot pay their way, and shopping is no longer a national pastime.

Quirke may also find it difficult to get banks to lend to him. But he told local journalists last Tuesday that he would not approach Irish banks “even if they were interested”. Finding foreign banks to finance what Lowry called “the most sophisticated and ambitious project the country has ever seen” will be a difficult task given this country’s current reputation.

Loans most certainly won’t be forthcoming if the casino does not get a licence. The gaming centre would be the cash cow for the project, subsidising the rest and providing the money to repay the bank loans and dividends for investors. So while Lowry says the project won’t cost the state a cent in grant aid, “floating on its own commercial merit”, and could even provide enormous tax revenue from jobs and Vat, it is dependent on the government changing the laws that limit the size of casinos.

This is where matters get interesting. Lowry claims the cabinet has been made aware of the project and he is confident of their support. Dermot Ahern, the justice minister, is conducting a review of the gaming legislation and has indicated he may change it. So here’s the big question: will Lowry’s continued support for the government become linked to permission to build a super-casino of the size needed? Bertie Ahern cut a deal with Lowry — on terms that remain secret — after the last election in order to secure his Dail vote. The former taoiseach promised to help Lowry’s constituency, using state money to do so. If that money is no longer available, might the government cut a deal on the casino to keep Lowry happy?

Gambling has become a major issue over the last decade, with new bookmaking operations established all over the country and the internet providing an outlet for all sorts of wagering, almost without control. Many “members’ clubs” opened during the boom, when people had more money than sense and gambled it on blackjack, roulette and other high-stake games with abandon. (Indeed, much of the “investment” undertaken by the wealthy on property, and borrowers in “contracts for difference” on the stock market, was akin to the type of “gaming” that has become popular).

Casinos are seductive locations where “the house” — the owner — never loses. It is a matter of personal choice what people do with their money, of course, but it is well established that casinos are central to the development of gambling addictions. Our financial regulators did not protect citizens from the depredations of the banks and developers, so can we expect the state to avert its gaze when it comes to the social problems that can be caused by excessive gambling?

That Lowry could have powerful influence over the government on such an important issue is extraordinary. It’s true that he’s democratically elected — being generally returned on the first count — but it is damning of the standards that apply in this country that he’s even eligible to stand. He has not been convicted of a crime but he was forced to resign from the rainbow government in disgrace (having secretly taken hundreds of thousands of pounds from Dunne). He lied to the Dail about having offshore bank accounts to facilitate further evasion. It took him years to sort out his tax affairs.

Maybe Bertie Ahern recognised a kindred spirit when he dealt with Lowry in the summer of 2007 — after all both were responsible for raising money for their parties in the mid-1990s and enjoyed considerable success in tapping businessmen for cash.

The government is aware of the preliminary findings of the Moriarty tribunal into Lowry’s awarding of the second mobile-phone licence as minister for communications in 1995. O’Brien has complained that he is the subject of 60 adverse findings, which implies that Lowry has come in for criticism too. The government might be best advised to limit its contact with Lowry but he remains the go-to man in Tipperary, a hero despite all he has done. He’s a fixer with the reputation for getting things done, going back to the Semple Stadium redevelopment in Thurles more than 25 years ago. How others responsible for the corrosion of standards in politics and business must hope they can survive disgrace so successfully.

I asked Lowry last week whether he would be an investor in the Quirke project. He laughed and said no. It took a couple of efforts before he said he wasn’t being paid to be a spokesman or consultant. He must be satisfying himself with the currency of local kudos. But here’s an idea should the project go ahead: Quirke should give Lowry weekly use of the replica Oval Office to serve as his constituency office. It would be a fitting symbol of how farcical this country has become.

matt.cooper@sunday-times.ie Matt Cooper, the author of Who Really Runs Ireland?, will appear alongside the writers Shane Ross, Fintan O’Toole and Pat Leahy at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Wednesday to debate the causes and consequences of the economic crash

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