Mr Liam Lawlor was forced to withdraw remarks made by him at the Mahon tribunal about Senator Mary O'Rourke when he suggested that her evidence the previous day was motivated by the loss of her Dáil seat in 2002.
During cross-examination of Mr Tom Gilmartin yesterday morning, Mr Lawlor asked the property developer whether he thought that the former TD was "suffering from a case of post-Westmeath-loss-of-seat syndrome".
Judge Alan Mahon intervened immediately and told Mr Lawlor it was not a proper question. "I'll answer it myself - yes," Mr Lawlor retorted.
On Monday Senator O'Rourke backed up the evidence of Mr Gilmartin that he held a meeting in February 1989 in Leinster House with a number of Fianna Fáil ministers of the time, including the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at which she was also present.
Mr Ahern and various members of that 1989 cabinet have said they have no recollection of the meeting.
Judge Alan Mahon returned to the issue later that day, and asked Mr Lawlor to withdraw the remark. He said he was concerned the remark could be construed to suggest that Senator O'Rourke had made up her evidence to the tribunal the previous day.
The remark, if it was being made, "should have been put to Mrs O'Rourke" during cross-examination, the judge said, and she would have to be offered the right to address the allegation if Mr Lawlor would not withdraw it. The former Dublin West TD said he would and that it was "a political issue rather than a tribunal issue".
Later, Mr Lawlor said that his former Fianna Fáil parliamentary colleague was "very bitter about the loss of her seat".
Yesterday Mrs O'Rourke told reporters that any suggestion she had committed perjury was completely untrue.
Meanwhile Judge Mahon said he was "very concerned" at the length of time Mr Lawlor was taking to cross-examine Mr Gilmartin. He told Mr Lawlor, who is representing himself, to stop the practice of "reading in minute detail" extracts from various documents, which he agreed to do.
Mr Lawlor had earlier explained his motivation behind his going through various pre-planning documents in detail to show that Mr Gilmartin's plan for a major shopping centre was doomed to failure.
"I am going to prove that Mr Gilmartin's scheme could never have succeeded because it wanted to drive a coach and four horses through our planning guidelines statutory instruments."
Mr Gilmartin later on said the proposed development was totally appropriate, and said: "You said I tried to drive a coach and four horses through the planning, but you jumped on the front horse."
Mr Gilmartin also rejected suggestions from Mr Lawlor that the proposed development was too large to have obtained political support and planning approval.
"You, Mr Lawlor, wouldn't have given a damn if they put the Egyptian pyramids on it as long as you had your stake in it."
Mr Gilmartin also denied that his claims about the alleged meeting with Fianna Fáil ministers in 1989 differed greatly from that of Mrs O'Rourke.
"Mary O'Rourke confirmed the meeting took place. Now her recollection and mine might slightly differ, but she has confirmed the meeting took place Mr Lawlor. And what's more, you know it took place because you took me there. You organised it."