Mr Justice Flood is expected to delay until noon today his taking of evidence in Guernsey from Mr Joseph Murphy snr in relation to the planning tribunal's inquiries into alleged payments for planning favours.
The High Court President, Mr Justice Morris, yesterday sat for six hours listening to legal argument by counsel representing The Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Examiner and RTE who challenged, by way of judicial review, Mr Justice Flood's exclusion of the media from today's proceedings in the Channel Islands.
When it became clear that yesterday's review hearing would continue late, Mr Justice Morris asked the Flood tribunal legal team if they could contact Mr Justice Flood in Guernsey and see if he could postpone the Guernsey proceedings by an hour until 11 a.m.
Mr John Gallagher SC, counsel for the tribunal, afterwards told the court this had been agreed and that it was possible the hearing of Mr Murphy's evidence might not begin until about noon.
Mr Justice Morris, who said he was anxious to deal with the matter with the utmost expedition, added that the delay would give him extra time to consider and deliver his judgment today which, he said, he would give not before 10.30 a.m.
The tribunal had decided to exclude the press from today's hearing at a conference centre in Guernsey on medical evidence from Mr Murphy's doctors who had asked Mr Justice Flood that the proceedings be held before the least permissible number of tribunal staff and legal representatives.
At the conclusion of yesterday's legal submissions, Mr Dan Herbert SC, counsel for Mr Murphy, said a number of his colleagues had, he was sure, unintentionally used words which might indicate that Mr Murphy was seeking to avoid giving his evidence in public. He said Mr Murphy had been in Dublin for the whole of January waiting to give evidence "in the full glare of publicity" to the tribunal but had unfortunately been taken ill and had to return to his Channel Islands home.
He had since suffered a second illness.