MR Albert Reynolds in the witness box at his High Court libel action in London yesterday denied that he was a liar.
With his wife Kathleen and eldest daughter Miriam listening bust a few feet away, Mr Reynolds, who stood throughout his testimony, repeatedly denied that he had lied or misled his colleagues and the Dail over the extradition of the paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth.
"No way. Certainly not. I gave them all the information that was available to me," he told the jury and Mr Justice French.
Mr Reynolds (63) is suing the Sunday Times newspaper over an article, headlined "Goodbye gombeen man" which was printed in the English, Scottish and Welsh editions on November 20th, 1994.
He alleges the article stated he lied over the events leading to the downfall of his government. The newspaper denies libel, pleading qualified privilege and justification.
Within minutes of taking the stand, Mr Reynolds became emotional when asked to acknowledge that his wife had "not always enjoyed good health".
After a lengthy pause, Mr Reynolds wiped away a tear as he told the jury that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer in 1992. Mrs Reynolds also appeared upset.
Mr Reynolds told the jury that he had not received a letter from the then new Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, concerning the Duggan case, until after he had made his crucial speech to the Dail about the handling of Smyth's extradition.
In retrospect he found the letter had been sent to the Dail by staff from the AG's office and had been passed through a number of hands before arriving in his ministerial colleague's bundle of files. "It never got to me," he said.
"Who was the ministerial colleague?" asked Lord Williams. "Bertie Ahern," replied Mr Reynolds. "Your successor?", asked Lord Williams.
Mr Reynolds said he was. "And he did not pass it to you?" continued Lord Williams. "No", replied Mr Reynolds.
"I hit the ceiling," he said, when he found it on his desk later the same evening.
Mr Reynolds revealed that Mr Fitzsimons admitted to him that he would have been forced to resign as Attorney General if Mr Reynolds had read the full text of that letter to the Dail.
On seeking further legal advice, Mr Fitzsimons had established that the content of a paragraph in his letter was legally wrong.
Mr Reynolds explained to the jury that he need not have resigned as Taoiseach but could have dissolved the Dail and called a general election.
However, he was concerned that the "first casualty" of such an action would have been the peace process.
Earlier, Lord Williams urged the jury to award Mr Reynolds massive damages for the injury to his reputation" and because the Sunday Times had refused to apologise.
"You have the power of awarding damages to him. The elements in assessing damages I suggest should include the fact that Mr Reynolds served the public well and not just the public in the Irish Republic," he said.
The hearing was adjourned until today when it is expected Mr Reynolds will be cross-examined by barristers for the Sunday Times.