Murphy's house `did not have planning approval'

Mr Joseph Murphy snr was resident in the State although he had a home in Guernsey in the Channel Islands and lived here in a house for which planning permission had not been obtained, Mr James Gogarty alleged at the Flood tribunal yesterday.

Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for the Murphy group, suggested that Mr Murphy snr had extensive business interests in the UK and had only minimal interest in his affairs in the Republic.

He further suggested that Mr Murphy snr was resident in Guernsey since 1975 and although he had a home here, his brother lived in it and Mr Joe Murphy snr only stayed there on his "occasional" visits to Dublin.

However, Mr Gogarty insisted Mr Murphy "had a permanent home in Dublin too" and in response to the suggestion that Mr Murphy made only occasional visits to Dublin, Mr Gogarty declared: "That's a damn lie.

"Excuse the language now, that's a damn lie and events will prove it and he had no planning permission for the bloody house either," insisted Mr Gogarty.

Mr Cooney also said Mr Murphy's Irish operation "comprised about 6 or 7 per cent of his total business operation and that the greatest part, over 90 per cent, of his business activities were carried out in the United Kingdom." Mr Gogarty said he disagreed.

Mr Cooney continued that "the amount of time Mr Murphy spent in Ireland devoted to his Irish interests was necessarily very limited". Mr Gogarty repeated: "I disagree with that."

Mr Cooney said Mr Murphy did not visit Ireland on any regular basis until about 1988 when he became concerned at the way in which Mr Liam Conroy was managing his businesses both in Ireland and in the UK, a concern which ultimately led to a boardroom battle and the dismissal of Mr Conroy.

Mr Cooney also put it to Mr Gogarty that although Mr Gogarty had resigned his directorships in 1982, he still retained exclusive control of the Murphy group lands, in the absence of Mr Murphy.

"You more or less had a free hand to do what you wanted," maintained Mr Cooney. Mr Gogarty again rejected this assertion.