Gogarty to face tough questioning by tribunal opponents

A bitter battle is looming between Mr James Gogarty (81) and lawyers for those he has accused of corruption following the decision by the chairman of the planning tribunal to allow immediate cross-examination of Mr Gogarty.

While rejecting the arguments of counsel for the former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, and two builders, Mr Justice Flood has bowed to the "apparent inevitability" of the High Court challenge they threatened had he deferred the cross-examination.

This would have delayed the tribunal for at least six months and negated the reason cited for taking Mr Gogarty's evidence out of turn, namely, his advanced age and frail health. His cross-examination is set to start upon the completion of his direct evidence.

Lawyers for Mr Burke, the developer Mr Michael Bailey and Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering may "spring traps, surprise the witness or pull rabbits out of the hat" (in the words of tribunal lawyers last month) by introducing matters of which the witness has no prior notice.

Mr Bailey's lawyer, Mr Colm Allen SC, has already promised that Mr Gogarty is in for "some big ambush" during cross-examination. JMSE's lawyers have promised to surprise the witness by exposing inconsistencies in his version of events and shatter his credibility.

Delivering his ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Flood said it would be sensible to defer Mr Gogarty's cross-examination until others had given their evidence. But given the threat of High Court proceedings, these were not normal circumstances, he said.

The chairman promised that Mr Gogarty would be allowed to "consider the matter" and consult his lawyers on any occasion he is accused of wrongdoing or impropriety. He called on lawyers to conduct their questioning with "courtesy and respect". Lawyers were unsure last night how the ruling would work in practice.

Mr Gogarty gave a startling account yesterday of the intimidation he allegedly suffered during his legal battles with JMSE. He said Mr Joseph Murphy jnr threatened him during a phone call he received in June 1994. At the time, JMSE was appealing a Circuit Court judgment in his favour in a row over P60s.

"I'm going out to your house and I'll break every f. . .ing bone in your body and then I'll kick the f. . .ing shite out of you and when I'm finished with you you won't have a roof over your head, and I'll put a stop to all your legal hassles," Mr Murphy allegedly said.

Mr Gogarty hung up but Mr Murphy called a second time and repeated the threats, he alleged. The experience left Mr Gogarty and his wife "frightened out of their wits", he said. A later meeting with Mr Murphy ended in "a bit of a barney".

It also emerged that he settled his long-standing dispute over a pension with the company in 1990, when JMSE put £284,943.36 into his pension fund. Yet within a year, he was in dispute again with the company, this time over his consultancy agreement with it and its treatment of his tax affairs.