EAMON Dunphy was throwing allegations around like "confetti at a funeral" in the article at the centre of the Proinsias De Rossa libel case, it was claimed in the High Court yesterday.
The Democratic Left TD, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said the article was the most "vicious, vindictive and scurrilous attack" he had ever seen in his time as a politician.
Mr De Rossa, leader of Democratic Left and Minister for Social Welfare, is suing Independent Newspapers over the article which was published in the Sunday Independent on December 13th 1992.
Mr Rabbitte said the article appeared less than two days after the leader of the Labour Party Mr Dick Spring, had stated publicly that he wanted Democratic Left as partner in government. There had been a general election on November 25th and the two parties had reached agreement on a "policy platform" for going into government together.
The article, it seemed to Mr Rabbitte, was a calculated attempt to undermine the prospects of Democratic Left being in government.
Counsel for Mr De Rossa Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, read the opening two paragraphs of the article to the witness. They had stated: "Irish society is divided. As the political parties manoeuvre to try to form a government, a clear picture has emerged, revealing the nature of our differences.
"On one side of the argument are those who would find the idea of Democratic Left in cabinet acceptable. These people are prepared to ignore Democratic Left leader Proinsias de Rossa's reference to the `special activities' which served to fund the Workers' Party in the very recent past."
Mr Rabbitte said it was fatuous in the opening paragraph to suggest that Irish society was divided on whether Democratic Left iii cabinet was acceptable. If anything society was divided on whether a resurgent Labour Party should go into government with Fianna Fail.
An average constituent might say it appeared from the second paragraph that Mr De Rossa had made some references during the negotiations on forming a government, or against the backdrop of the general election, to "special activities" being used to fund the Workers' Party.
Counsel asked Mr Rabbitte how he interpreted the next three paragraphs of the article, which he read to the court. They had stated: "The `special activities' concerned were criminal. Among the crimes committed were armed robberies and forgery of currency.
"The people engaged in this business occupied that twilight world where the line blurs between those who are common criminals and others of that ilk who would claim to be engaged in political activity.
"This world is inhabited by myriad groups, some dealing in drugs, prostitution, protection rackets, crimes of which the weakest members of society are invariably the victims.
Mr Rabbitte said that unless there was any doubt about what was being imputed to the term "special activities", the author had gone to great lengths to explain it.
He was more concerned with the political impact of the article than anything else, and Mr De Rossa did not dispute his analysis. But Mr De Rossa seemed to see the article personally rather than politically, said Mr Rabbitte. "He seemed debilitated by it."
Mr De Rossa, said the witness, did not seem further interested in the prospect of how the negotiations for government were going to go. "He was more withdrawn into himself than he normally was and most exasperatingly for the rest of us he wouldn't discuss it."
Asked by Mr Hardiman if Mr De Rossa had ever made any reference to "special activities", Mr Rabbitte said never to his knowledge, and by that stage he knew him quite well.
One of the reasons he was so annoyed about the phrase "special activities" was that at that stage he was engaged, on behalf of a couple of colleagues and himself, in negotiations with one of the major banks about a loan of £100,000 which had been made to the Workers' Party. Mr Rabbitte and his colleagues were the guarantors.
Mr De Rossa was involved in another loan and he was aware of another colleague, a TD, who had a third (Workers' Party) loan of about £40,000.
The party's financial position was always perilous. It was run on a shoestring. Mr De Rossa contributed his MEP's salary and leader's allowance.
Mr Hardiman said the article suggested that funding had been raised by activities such as armed, robbery and protection rackets "in the very recent past".
Mr Rabbitte said this had never happened. He had never seen such money and the fact that he had to go personal guarantor for a loan made him feel particularly chagrined about "this cruel untruth".