O'Leary says sorry to judge over 'lie'

RYANAIR CHIEF executive Michael O’Leary has apologised unreservedly to a High Court judge over a “lie” in a letter to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey alleging that the judge had publicly criticised the Minister over “inexcusable” delays in setting up an appeal panel against proposed new charges at Dublin airport.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly said yesterday he found it “offensive” and of “grave concern” that he had been seriously mirepresented in a material way in a letter from the Ryanair boss to Mr Dempsey on February 25th.

However, because Mr O’Leary had apologised unreservedly to the court and had undertaken to write a letter of apology to the Minister stating his remarks about the judge were wrong, he would not take the matter further.

Given other incorrect statements by Ryanair, the judge said he wanted to see Mr O’Leary’s draft letter of apology to the Minister by next Tuesday before that letter was sent.

Mr O’Leary was lucky the matter was not treated as contempt of court, the judge said.

It was “a very poor state of affairs” when a CEO of a public limited company took it on himself to write to a Government Minister seriously misrepresenting the court and ascribing comments the judge did not make.

As a mark of oppobrium, the judge awarded costs at the highest level against Ryanair of proceedings arising from claims by the Commission for Aviation Regulation that Ryanair had seriously misled the court in affidavits.

The proceedings arose after the commission last month sought to fast-track in the Commercial Court Ryanair’s proposed judicial review challenge to his December 4th decision fixing the maximum charges the DAA may levy at Dublin airport over a five-year period to 2014. Ryanair has appealed against the charges to an appeal panel set up by the Minister and also wants to challenge them via judicial review.

Because a judicial review challenge has to be brought within two months of the charges decision but the appeal process can take considerably longer, it sought the consent of the commission to adjourn its judicial review pending the appeal but that consent was refused.

Ryanair will apply on April 15th for leave to bring the judicial review challenge and the court will also then hear its application to adjourn that challenge. Both the commission and Dublin Aviation Authority may also apply on that date to have the proceedings struck out on grounds of misconduct by Ryanair.

Yesterday, Mr O’Leary was before the court to explain why the court was not informed last month in affidavits on behalf of Ryanair of an important letter of January 19th, 2010 to Mr O’Leary from the Minister for Transport stating the Minister would set up a panel to hear Ryanair’s appeal.

A solicitor and Ryanair’s head of legal affairs, Juliusz Komorek, who had both sworn the two affidavits referred to by the judge, said they were unaware when swearing of the existence of the Minister’s letter to Mr O’Leary and had not been informed of it or of other correspondence between the Minister and the Ryanair CEO.

Both men have apologised and Mr Komorek told the judge yesterday it was his responsibility to check his CEO’s file and the mistake in the affidavits was “unfortunate and embarrassing”.

As Mr O’Leary took the witness stand, the judge asked him to take his hand out of his pocket when swearing the oath.

Mr O’Leary denied as “absolutely untrue” suggestions by Cian Ferriter, for the DAA, that Ryanair has a pattern of misleading solicitors, the court, the DAA and the public, that it has “an utter disregard” for the truth or that he showed the same lack of respect for the court as to all who get in the way of Ryanair campaigns.