An application by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, a former minister for agriculture, Mr Michael O'Kennedy, and another man to have the Fianna Fail headquarters in Dublin vested in their names as trustees of the party was adjourned for a week at the High Court yesterday.
The application on behalf of Mr Ahern, Mr O'Kennedy and Mr Richard Howlin was brought by Mr James Dwyer SC, who said it related to premises at 13 Upper Mount Street, Dublin. ail.
The premises, which were subject to a 150-year lease from 1829 were acquired in 1927 by a former president, Mr Eamon de Valera, Ms Margaret Pearse and Mr Robert Farnan as trustees of the party. The freehold was acquired in the mid-1970s.
At the time of this conveyance, a former Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, and two former FF ministers, Mr Sean MacEntee and Mr Patrick Smith, would have been trustees of the party. Mr Smith died in 1982, Mr McEntee in 1984 and Mr Lynch in October 1999.
Mr Dwyer said his application was straightforward - to vest the property in the names of the current trustees of the party, each of whom had been formally appointed to this position. Asked by Ms Justice Carroll how they came to be appointed, counsel said there were no formal decisions supporting their appointment as trustees; they were simply nominated by the party.
Mr Dwyer said both the president and vice-president of the party were traditionally appointed as trustees, but he could not say precisely how this was done except in accordance with the rules of the party.
In an affidavit handed into court, Mr Michael O'Kennedy said Mr Ahern, Mr Howlin and he were the properly appointed trustees of the party, having been appointed in accordance with the terms of a 1927 deed poll and the constitution and rules of the Fianna Fail party. He said the property remained vested in the trustees which were parties to the 1975 conveyance.
Ms Justice Carroll said there was a gap in the legal proofs from the point of view of how the current trustees were appointed. She adjourned the case for a week to enable that information to be given.