A Limerick college lecturer has alleged that a "special relationship" exists between former Supreme Court judge Hugh O'Flaherty and Fianna Fail.
Mr Denis Riordan made the claim yesterday at the opening of his High Court challenge to the Government's nomination of Mr O'Flaherty for the position of vice-president of the European Investment Bank.
Mr Riordan was permitted by the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, to read out from his written submissions a number of personalised allegations including a claim of a "special relationship between O'Flaherty and FF, between O'Flaherty's wife and Ahern's mistress . . . "
Mr Justice Morris stressed he was only allowing such allegations to be read in court lest anyone should say he was trying to prevent it.
After the reading, the judge ruled that Mr Riordan must comply with last week's High Court ruling confining him to challenging the nomination on defined grounds. Mr Riordan, of Clonconane, Redgate, Co Limerick, was given leave to challenge the appointment on grounds that the method of nomination was unjust, unfair and unconstitutional.
Mr Riordan claimed that, given the salary of the EIB vice-president was paid by EU taxpayers and, as an EU and Irish citizen, he had a right to have an opportunity of applying for the position, his fundamental right as a citizen to that opportunity had not been vindicated by the process adopted by the Minister for Finance and the Government.
The full hearing of the challenge opened yesterday and continues today. Mr O'Flaherty was not represented.
When Mr Riordan, who is presenting his own case, was reading from his submissions, Mr Justice Morris asked for clarification of the issue he had to try. Was it that, before the Government could nominate anybody, it had to give everybody the opportunity to apply for the job?
Mr Riordan agreed, and added that he was entitled to fair procedures. He should have had the opportunity to apply and there should be proper selection criteria. There were no criteria for selecting the EIB vice-president. He, as a citizen, was therefore well qualified for the position but not well known to Fianna Fail and the Minister for Finance. That was the basis of his claim of inequality.
He contended the Government was using taxpayers' funds to unjustly enrich its friends or members of their parties. The Government had a right to select a nominee but was required to follow fair and just procedures. He had a constitutional right to know that the job was available.
Mr Justice Morris said four of Mr Riordan's submissions had been ruled as matter which could not properly be brought before the court. In those circumstances it was not right to open them. Mr Riordan maintained they were complaints against procedures followed by the Government.
Mr Justice Morris then allowed Mr Riordan to read them.
Mr Riordan read: "The manner in which Hugh O'Flaherty was nominated for the position . . . the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy going out to O'Flaherty's house under the cover of darkness in the dead of night, represents a serious breach of trust in that no attempt was made to ensure that the best and brightest person was selected to represent the State as VP of EIB but the sole motive was to reward an abuser of high office for services rendered to the FF party.
"Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Tanaiste Mary Harney and other members of the Government sit idly by and allow the breach of trust to continue unabated," he continued. " . . . Charlie McCreevy had a serious conflict of interest between the interests of the party faithful and the interests of the State and the EIB and, in the special relationship that existed between O'Flaherty and FF, between O'Flaherty's wife and Ahern's mistress, and between Sheedy and the builder and Ahern and Ahern's mistress and O'Flaherty's wife and O'Flaherty, and the abuse of power by O'Flaherty to help Sheedy who worked for the builder who was Ahern's friend whose mistress was a close friend of O'Flaherty's wife who was married to O'Flaherty who helped Sheedy but got dumped by Ahern when the going got tough and the tough got going."
Mr Justice Morris told Mr Riordan he was going to make a strict ruling that he comply with the grounds of leave and stated there was "to be no more of that in this court . . . "
Counsel for the State claimed that because the decision to nominate a person to the vice-presidency of the EIB was taken by the Government, it could not be reviewed by the courts. The State contends Mr Riordan is not entitled to an opportunity to apply for the position of vice-president of the EIB and denies his constitutional rights have been breached. While it agrees the position was not advertised, the State denies it is under any legal obligation to do so.
Mr James O'Reilly SC, for the Government, Taoiseach, Minister for Finance and Attorney General, argued that a vice-president of the EIB was not answerable to the authorities of the member-state which nominated him or her. The procedure for appointment laid down by statute began where the board of directors considered names to be forwarded to the board of governors.
No procedure was prescribed for the submission of nominations to the board of directors and nominations were a matter for political agreement between governments. He said the nomination of Mr O'Flaherty had been made with the agreement of the members of the board of governors representing Greece and Denmark.
There were many instances where the Government or a Minister had power to make appointments to State bodies or boards.