FORMER Taoiseach Mr Albert Reynolds outlined the events leading to the downfall of his government to a libel jury at the High Court in London yesterday and repeatedly denied that he had lied to his colleagues and the Dail.
Giving evidence against the Sunday Times, Mr Reynolds told the jury there was "no way" he had tried to deceive the Dail over the delays in the extradition of the paedophile priest, Father Brendan Smyth.
"No way, certainly not. I gave them all the information I had available to me. It is a very serious matter. A politician should impart all the information he has to the House," he said.
Asked by his counsel, Lord Williams QC, when he had learned that his information was inaccurate, Mr Reynolds said it was later the same evening when he returned to his office after having a bite to eat".
"I hit the ceiling, as they say in Ireland, and understandably so. Here was the legal advice that I had asked for. It was clear enough to say Brendan Smyth was not the first case in which this legislation had been used," he said.
Mr Reynolds told the jury he later learned that the letter from the new Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, outlining the Duggan case, which he believed was similar to Smyth's, had been sent to the Dail before the debate began. But he never received it.
He added that, in retrospect, he also found out that the letter had reached Mr Bertie Ahern, now the leader of Fianna Fail, who was assisting him with all the papers and information during the debate. "I never got it," he said.
Mr Reynolds is suing the Sunday Times over an article printed on November 20th, 1994, and published in its English, Scottish and Welsh editions, which claimed he had deliberately lied to the Dail over the affair and misled his colleagues. The paper denies libel, pleading qualified privilege and justification.
Following the media publicity over the Smyth case, Mr Reynolds said, he immediately requested Mr Whelehan to investigate his office's handling of the extradition warrant to dispel the "rumour and innuendo" that there had been a cover-up.
After telling the jury that he was not "entirely satisfied" with Mr Whelehan's explanation, Mr Reynolds said that by the time he addressed the Dail on November 11th, 1994, it was his "genuine belief" that the Smyth case was unprecedented.
Mr Reynolds said that Mr Whelehan had met cabinet ministers on the previous Friday and explained his position. "I made it quite clear I thought it [the report] was inadequate. I thought a case like this should have had more priority. But, having heard that Mr Whelehan had not been informed about the file, he had not seen the file, everyone around the table believed he had acted in good faith. He had done nothing worthy of criticism."
After realising that the information in his speech was inaccurate, Mr Reynolds asked Mr Fitzsimons to draft an explanation which he would deliver the following day. The two men worked until the early hours of Wednesday morning on the speech, which also included a passage demanded by the Tanaiste stating his consistent opposition to Mr Whelehan's promotion.
Minutes before he delivered his speech to the Dail, Mr Reynolds told the jury his "gut instinct" was that the government would fall. The hearing was adjourned until today when Mr Reynolds is expected to be cross-examined by the defence.