The High Court will rule today on an application to halt the Government's nomination of former Supreme Court judge Mr Hugh O'Flaherty to the vice-presidency of the European Investment Bank, a post with a salary of £147,000.
Mr Denis Riordan, a college lecturer, of Redgate, Co Limerick, claims the nomination of the former judge - who resigned over his role in the Philip Sheedy affair - is unconstitutional and politically motivated.
Mr Riordan has complained that he and other citizens were excluded from applying from the publicly funded post, which had not been advertised and for which no job criteria were published.
He is seeking leave of the High Court to bring judicial review proceedings challenging the nomination. If granted leave, he also wants an interim order restraining the nomination pending the outcome of the action.
Yesterday, Mr Riordan told Mr Justice Kelly that he was personally interested in the EIB position. He added that, as a citizen, he had never been removed from office or accused of any wrongdoing, unlike Mr O'Flaherty who, Mr Riordan said, had resigned from the Supreme Court under threat of impeachment.
He added that Mr O'Flaherty had been given an opportunity to come into court and deny the allegations Mr Riordan was making, but the former judge had refused to do so and had withdrawn from the action. On Wednesday, Mr Riordan had claimed Mr O'Flaherty was a "lying, corrupt" Supreme Court judge who had who had "perverted the course of justice" and a "corrupt man who lost the ability to distinguish between right and wrong".
At the conclusion of the application yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly said he would deliver his judgment today. While the case was obviously a matter of urgency, serious questions had to be considered, he said.