John Delaney denies trying to paralyse ODCE inquiry into FAI

Former Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive John Delaney has rejected claims by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) that he is engaging in conduct that would paralyse the corporate watchdog’s investigative powers.

In a sworn statement, Mr Delaney said he needs extra time to examine thousands of files, including contents of his emails, so he can set out exactly what material he alleges to be covered by legal professional privilege, with the effect it cannot be used by the ODCE as part of its investigation into the FAI.

He said more than 1,000 media articles were written since March 2019 in relation to him, with many containing unfounded allegations. These were enormously damaging to his future career prospects and related to documents relating to his former employment and other private and confidential information.

‘Hostile media’

He said that because of “negative and hostile media in Ireland”, he moved to the UK in October and works 60 to 80 hours a week managing the operations of a start-up business which has provided “essential services” to public bodies in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said he has put his “personal health at risk by attending sites where Covid-19 is prevalent” even while taking required healthcare precautions.

“I do this because I need the work to support myself and my family,” he said, adding that he lives in a “modest” shared two-bedroom apartment.

He had hoped to return to Ireland to inspect the documents, but due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and work demands, made arrangements for his solicitor, Aidan Eames to do so. He had not ignored a direction to return to Ireland to personally inspect the seized items, he added.

The High Court was due later this month to make a determination concerning the files that are covered by legal privilege but, because Mr Delaney sought more time, the matter will next be mentioned before the court in September.

Search warrant

The material, comprising 13 hard copy documents and a digital device containing 270,000 separate files including Mr Delaney’s emails, was seized from the FAI’s offices at Abbottstown under a search warrant last February.

A plan that allowed Mr Delaney to examine the files to see which ones are private to him or covered by professional legal privilege was put in place and it was envisaged that the inspection would be completed before the end of July. HOwever, Mr Delaney, a notice party to the action, asked for additional time due to the large volume of files involved.

That application was opposed by the ODCE, whose lawyers said Mr Delaney was seeking to “complicate” a “relatively simple exercise”.

The ODCE said it had no objection to his request to involve an IT forensic expert but argued it had put in place a system that balanced the rights and obligations of all parties and made the timetable entirely achievable.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds had directed Mr Delaney to provide a sworn statement setting out his co-operation with the inspection process to date.

In his statement, Mr Delaney denied trying to delay the process, said he did not know how many documents would need to be inspected and was concerned his rights may be infringed if he and his lawyers were not given enough time.

He said the amount of time allotted to examine the files was “surprising and disquieting” and the material went back several years.

The ODCE was seeking to resile from an examination strategy it had designed, which had been approved by the court, and trying to blame him “for making the strategy unworkable”, he said.

Hard pressed

He was locked out of his former work email account in March of last year and, like most people, would be hard pressed to even give a ballpark estimate of the number of files in his account.

He said he has “acted in good faith” and was disappointed to be criticised after making genuine and sincere efforts to assist the ODCE.

Paul McGarry SC, for Mr Delaney, told the High Court this week his client and Mr Eames were at all times “practical, helpful and reasonable” regarding examination of the documents.

Kerida Naidoo SC, with Elva Duffy BL, for the ODCE, said his side believes the investigation could be done much quicker than appeared to be suggested by Mr Delaney’s experts. The court had heard the IT expert consulted by Mr Delaney had said the examination could take six or seven months.

Ms Justice Reynolds said she was anxious the matter proceed as soon as possible and directed Mr Delaney’s lawyers to furnish the ODCE with a list of documents said to be covered by legal professional privilege by early September.