It was high noon for Liam Lawlor at Dublin Castle yesterday as he turned up at midday to hear if he was bound for prison for a fourth time. Alison Healy reports.
In the event, he escaped being sent to the High Court for non-compliance with a tribunal order. But the prospect of prison must have seemed less daunting than his encounter with an eager media contingent afterwards.
He almost came a cropper on the way into the tribunal after he and some reporters became entangled in microphone cables.
But Mr Lawlor deftly escaped being tripped up and then sat through a grim hearing where he was told he had repeatedly lied and been evasive, dismissive, unco-operative and obstructive.
Afterwards, the former Fianna Fáil deputy was swamped by microphones and cameras as he came through the glass doors.
The presence of RTÉ's Charlie Bird was proof that Liam Lawlor had become the story of the day. "Charlie, how are you?" Mr Lawlor inquired genially.
However, after Charlie reminded him that he had been accused of lying, his tone changed and his voice rose: "Have you nothing better to be doing? You are being paid by the taxpayer, Charlie. Go and do something productive." Then he made a dive for the door of his waiting car. The door collided with a Lite FM microphone and sent it crashing to the ground. Mr Lawlor escaped in a cloud of dust as the Lite FM reporter picked up the pieces of her broken mike.
Later yesterday, Mr Lawlor responded to the tribunal's ruling, saying he had co-operated to the best of his abilities. He was in a "David versus Goliath" struggle and said he had not been asked a single question about planning matters in his recent tribunal appearances.