Not a hint of emotion from the man who once ruled the roost

One hand gripping a book of Percy Shelley's poems, the other an umbrella for support, George Redmond remained impassive and expressionless as the guilty verdict in his case was read out.

The 79-year-old pensioner's face betrayed no hint of emotion and his trademark golden tan masked any trace of a pallor.

Two deep breaths were the only noticeable reaction from the first senior public servant in the history of the State to be convicted of corruption.

Across the crowded courtroom, however, the strain of the moment was written on the faces of the jurors.

Six men and six women, most of them less than half the age of the defendant, had taken six hours and 42 minutes since the previous day to deliver the guilty verdict by a 10-2 majority.

While Redmond's solicitor Anthony Harris bowed his head, detectives from the Criminal Assets Bureau congratulated each other on the success of their investigations.

Four years ago, they had arrested Redmond on his return from a tour of the Isle of Man's banks and now they had secured a difficult but historic conviction based on legislation drawn up in Victorian times.

There was, in the quiet interlude which preceded the discussion on sentencing, a sense of how much times have changed.

In the 1980s, when Redmond ruled the roost as de facto county manager in Dublin, Michael White was a Workers Party activist railing against the establishment.

Yesterday, Judge Michael White, horsehair wig in place, sat stage-centre in the seat of justice while Redmond, the man who once ran Co Dublin, awaited his fate on a bench to the right of the court. After a brief adjournment, the judge set to his task, only for a garda to tell him that Redmond was "in the loo, my lord".

Another adjournment followed before Redmond, in a blue jacket and tie and grey trousers re-entered the court.

As he fitted the earpiece he has been using to amplify the proceedings, the lawyers discussed his fate. It took until after lunchtime for the previously unthinkable to happen, when the judge placed the corrupt official in custody, pending sentencing in a month's time.

And with that, Redmond was led away to prison, looking for all the world like Shelley's once vain Ozymandias, "whose frown/And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command" were now reduced to "that colossal Wreck".