Dublin West TD Mr Liam Lawlor will appear before the High Court this morning to explain why he refused to attend and answer questions before the Flood tribunal last week.
The former Fianna Fail TD told The Irish Times yesterday: "The reality is that I have no problem whatever about attending [the tribunal]. I have always intended to go there." The High Court would have to make a judgment about the validity of orders made against him, he said, and set down guidelines for proceedings.
The apparent change of heart follows the adoption of an all-party Dail motion by party leaders last Wednesday, in which they expressed concern over Mr Lawlor's attitude. "Every citizen, and even more so every member of the Oireachtas, owes a legal, moral and democratic duty to co-operate with the tribunal, not to obstruct it and to comply with its lawful orders."
Earlier, Mr Justice Flood had complained that the tribunal had failed to secure "any meaningful co-operation" from Mr Lawlor on a voluntary basis and had referred his failure to comply with orders to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Should he be prosecuted, Mr Lawlor would be liable to a fine of up to £10,000 and/or two years in jail.
As political and legal pressure intensified, senior Fianna Fail sources have ruled out any prospect of Mr Lawlor being readmitted to the party in advance of the next general election. "He isn't in Fianna Fail and I cannot envisage any circumstances in which he would be facilitated in seeking a nomination for the next general election," one source said.
In spite of that, Mr Lawlor regards the new constituency of Dublin Mid West as ready-made for him because it is dominated by his support base of Lucan and Clondalkin. He held preliminary discussions with a senior Fianna Fail official last week on electoral strategy, he said, because the revision of constituencies and the separation of Dublin West and Dublin Mid West meant he and Mr Brian Lenihan were now in different areas. "Dublin Mid West is effectively a Liam Lawlor constituency," he said.
Final decisions on his political future would not be made until hearings affecting him had been completed before the Flood tribunal. Mr Lawlor expected this would take a matter of months, leaving plenty of time to prepare for a general election.
If Fianna Fail denied him a nomination, he had other options. He dismissed a suggestion he might emigrate to the US, noting that while three of his sons lived there, he was "strongly rooted in Lucan where the Fianna Fail vote and the Liam Lawlor vote is closely entangled".
Without saying so directly, Mr Lawlor retains the option to stand as an independent candidate in Dublin Mid West. Figures from the last general election would give Fianna Fail and a leftwing candidate two of the three seats there, he said. The Tanaiste and PD leader, Ms Harney, and Fine Gael's Mr Austin Currie, would, he said, be in contention for the last seat.