After a break of over six weeks the Flood tribunal is due to resume public hearings tomorrow.
The delay in completing Mr Ray Burke's evidence has knocked the tribunal even further off schedule, and some observers are now predicting that Mr Justice Flood has up to two more years of work to see through.
But given the complexity of the ways used to channel money to the former Fianna Fail minister, it probably isn't surprising that it has taken so long to follow this particular money trail.
At issue are two payments, for £15,000 and £60,000, made to Mr Burke in 1984. His builder friends, Mr Tom Brennan and Mr Joe McGowan, originally claimed these were the proceeds of fund-raising carried out in Britain.
More recently, however, the tribunal discovered that the money came not from friendly whiprounds at Cheltenham and Ascot, but from a Channel Islands registered company, Canio Ltd.
Mr Brennan, Mr McGowan and auctioneer Mr John Finnegan held equal one-third shares in Ardcarn Ltd, which fully owned Canio. Ardcarn and Canio were dissolved in October 1999, after the tribunal started but before Mr Burke or its owners were called to give evidence.
Using records held by the companies registration office, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Land Registry, The Irish Times has pieced together some of the history of the lands currently under investigation.
In the late 1970s Canio bought about 100 acres of land in Sandyford, which formed the family farm of Frank Aiken, the former Fianna Fail minister for external affairs.
Some time later Dublin County Council voted to rezone 400 acres of land at Kilgobbin, including the former Aiken property. This was just one of many rezonings voted through by councillors at this time, usually against the advice of planners.
In October 1981 councillors confirmed the rezoning, after Ms Eithne Fitzgerald of Labour was prevailed upon to withdraw a motion calling for it to be rescinded. Mr Burke was not on the council at this time.
In November 1984 Canio sold the lands to another Brennan & McGowan company, Kilnamanagh Estates. Documents in the companies registration office show that a charge of £632,600 was registered on the deal to Lombard and Ulster.
Much of the legal work for Canio and Kilnamanagh Estates was handled by Binchy & Partners solicitors, of which Mr John Caldwell was a partner.
The tribunal has called Mr Caldwell to give evidence next week, but it is not clear if this is in relation to the Kilgobbin lands or a separate matter involving Mr Caldwell, which the tribunal is investigating.
It now appears that the money paid by Canio to Mr Burke in 1984 came from this mortgage. It was this connection, appearing to link Mr Burke to a land deal, which sent the tribunal into investigative overdrive. The value of the land increased from the £1.3 million paid by Canio to over £4 million when it was rezoned and planning permission obtained.
Tribunal lawyers came across the Canio payments after learning of a 1985 High Court case involving Brennan & McGowan and Mr George Russell, a solicitor who acted as agent for Canio. Mr Russell, who died a few years ago, had become embroiled in litigation with two financial institutions over the land, and he in turn sued the two builders.
In September 1990 Canio applied to build houses on 84 acres at Kilgobbin. Another Brennan & McGowan company, Grange Developments, paid the planning application fee of £7,500. The land had been zoned residential in the 1983 County Dublin Development Plan but it had no services.
The application was discussed at a council meeting in October 1990. Ms Olivia Mitchell of Fine Gael opposed it because of the effect on traffic, while Ms Fitzgerald said it lacked detail.
In November 1990 planning permission was refused on five grounds, with the lack of drainage the main problem. The following month the company appealed to An Bord Pleanala, but this was withdrawn in February 1991.
By this time much of the mortgage had been repaid, but the records show a charge due to another firm of house-builders. Planning permission was subsequently granted for a variety of schemes on different parts of the lands.