Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty was not at home and members of his family were unable to comment on the controversy over the Sheedy affair, The Irish Times was advised by the young man who answered the door at Mr Justice O'Flaherty's home.
However, less than 10 minutes later there was a flurry of activity outside the Supreme Court judge's semi-detached house in Herbert Park. Three men, including the young man who answered the door, moved cars from Mr Justice O'Flaherty's yard, and shortly afterwards, the young man drove Mr Justice O'Flaherty from his home in a large light blue saloon car.
The judge, a former Irish Press sub-editor, acknowledged my presence by waving but did not stop to comment. He looked relaxed and in good humour as he sat in the passenger seat of the car.
A TV3 crew filmed Mr Justice O'Flaherty's two-and-a-half storey home in the Dublin 4 suburb and were given the statement the Supreme Court judge had issued earlier in the afternoon.
It was near his Herbert Park home last October that Mr Justice O'Flaherty says he met Mr Ken Anderson, "the son of neighbours". In his statement, he said he had difficulty recognising Mr Anderson "because he had grown a beard since I saw him last".
Mr Anderson "was accompanied by a woman I had not previously met who was Mr Sheedy's sister", he said. The pair told him that Mr Sheedy's family "was very concerned about the effect that imprisonment was having on him".
During their conversation Mr Justice O'Flaherty said "it might be possible that Mr Sheedy could apply to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for a review of his sentence". That conversation was to set in train the series of events that resulted in yesterday's critical report from the Chief Justice.
