Not for the first time, mystery surrounds the absence of a high-profile legal team at the planning tribunal. The four-man team representing the former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, has not been seen at the tribunal since last week.
Their absence, at a critical time when Mr James Gogarty is beginning his cross-examination, coincides with reports that Mr Burke has given information to the tribunal but may now be reconsidering his willingness to tell all.
Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, who has led Mr Burke's team at the tribunal since last year, declined to comment last night on its absence. He referred further inquiries to Mr Burke's solicitor, Mr David Martin, of Gore Grimes.
However, Mr Martin is out of the country and will not be back until next week, according to a representative of Gore Grimes.
In the absence of his legal team, Mr Burke's name featured prominently on the second day of Mr Gogarty's cross-examination.
Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering, questioned him on his dealings with journalists, in particular Mr Frank Connolly of the Sunday Business Post.
Mr Connolly broke the story of the payment to Mr Burke, without naming him, in 1996. Mr Cooney pointed out that the first story, based on information provided by Mr Gogarty, referred to the (unnamed) witness "personally" handing over money to Mr Burke. A week later, a second story said he was present when the money was handed over.
Although elements of his story were severely tested under cross-examination by Mr Cooney, Mr Gogarty gave for the first time a detailed explanation of why he took so long to reveal his allegations.
He admitted "drip-feeding" information to Mr Connolly in order to further his own aim of exposing the Murphy group to prosecution for fraud and intimidation.
But he also explained that it wasn't until Mr Burke, following other media revelations, admitted receiving money that he felt able to talk freely. "Up to now, it was one man against many, and now the ranks were broken and it was accepted that there was at least £30,000 paid over."
Mr Cooney used the morning to ram home his central point - that Mr Gogarty was obsessed with his grievance and was prepared to make "outrageous allegations" against anyone who stood in his way.
On several occasions Mr Gogarty tried to put a context on his actions at the time by referring to the alleged intimidation he suffered at the hands of Mr Joseph Murphy jnr. "I was still living in fear and dread of what your client had done to me and how he said he would break every bone in my body and take the roof from over my head."
An apparently trivial incident in which two cars belonging to the Gogarty family were damaged in October 1994 gave Mr Gogarty his most difficult moments in 15 days in the witness-box. He said he notified the gardai in Howth of the incident and they had come to inspect the damage. The gardai, however, have said they have no record of a complaint.
Mr Cooney asked if he could remember the name of the garage that carried out the repairs. Mr Gogarty said he couldn't. Under cross-examination, he then said "we carried them out ourselves" and, later, "with a friend of mine".
Mr Cooney pressed him for the name of the friend, and the hall drew breath as Mr Gogarty paused.
"Well, I have a lot of friends," he finally answered, going on to say he wasn't sure which one it was.
Mr Gogarty's account of another incident also diverged sharply from that of the gardai. At Hallowe'en 1991, he said, he was sitting in his lounge when a shot was fired through the window, passing within feet of him. He told Mr Cooney the incident resulted in £2,000 worth of damage to carpets and furniture.
However, the investigating garda reported finding "two small holes" in the window, consistent with a marble or light ball-bearing having struck it. He said Mr Gogarty had never mentioned that a firearm might be responsible; neither had Mr Gogarty given a precise time or said that the projectile had passed within feet of him.
Mr Gogarty offered an explanation for this divergence. He said the gardai made two inspections on successive days. Overnight, the weather was dreadful and the damaged window fell in.