An examination of a claim that an article by Paul Cullen in The Irish Times was in contempt of the Flood tribunal, a claim denied by the journalist, will be heard on Monday.
The article, which appeared in the newspaper on Thursday, April 22nd, concerned an affidavit by the former chief executive of JMSE, Mr Liam Conroy. The matter had been raised by Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for the Murphy group.
Yesterday Mr Richard Nesbitt SC, for The Irish Times, said he was seeking a brief adjournment to take clear instructions. He had had the opportunity of reviewing the transcript of the previous day and saw that Mr Cullen was called quite rightly and the chairman had indicated he had a right to legal representation.
"I also note he made the point, in the few questions asked of him yesterday, that he didn't believe that his article was contemptuous of the order and, having spoken to him briefly, I think he still remains very clearly of that view."
It would be wrong of him to attempt to represent Mr Cullen without taking fuller instructions, particularly if he was going to be cross-examined by Mr Cooney because he (Mr Nesbitt) would wish to re-examine.
When the chairman suggested a time later yesterday, Mr Nesbitt said he would be in difficulty.
"As I see it, one of the difficulties is whether or not the article is written from sources other than the affidavit, and I'd like to be clear on that and I am not in a position to attend to that today," counsel said.
Mr Cooney said there was a fairly net issue here which did not require an inquiry which extended over a period of time. His submission was that the contempt of the tribunal was very clear in the face of the article itself and in that sense and in that sense only the sources upon which Mr Cullen relied were irrelevant. They were relevant, of course, from the tribunal's point or view in protecting the confidentiality of documents which had been submitted.
"This affidavit is peppered with lies and should not have been published before the tribunal issues its ruling," Mr Cooney said.
The chairman told Mr Cooney that they were dealing with an application for an adjournment, not with the substance of the matter.
The chairman said that he would deal with it at 2 p.m. on Monday.