MR DE ROSSA told the court he would have left the Workers' Party if any connection with alleged Official IRA activities had been established.
He agreed with counsel for Independent Newspapers, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, that in the 1970s and 1980s there had been repeated references in public life and the media to the continued existence of the Official IRA.
Asked by Mr MacEntee if he was saying the allegations about the Official IRA were groundless, Mr De Rossa said he was not saying so. "I am saying, insofar as any such activities existed, they had nothing to do with the party of which I was a member. If it ever came to the point where I believed it to be otherwise, I would leave that organisation."
Mr De Rossa said he had no knowledge of the Official IRA. Anybody could claim anything in relation to things of that kind.
Mr MacEntee asked if, when he got into a position of authority, it was a matter of concern to him to find out whether the rumours about the Official IRA were true.
Mr De Rossa said the recurrent rumours generally referred to the same alleged incidents. "Any time such matters were brought to my attention, I would raise them and I sought assurances that there was no connection with the party of which I was a member. I always got assurances there were no such connections."
Mr MacEntee asked for examples of alleged wrong doings in this jurisdiction which had been brought to his attention. Mr De Rossa said there had been an allegation that a member of the WP was involved in forging £5 notes.
He had asked that that matter be inquired into. The gardai were involved and the person concerned disappeared.
The Garda Fraud Squad was involved and no charge was brought against anybody, certainly not a member of the WP at that time.
Mr De Rossa agreed that that was a case in which a large number of forged £5 notes were found in premises on Hanover Quay, Dublin. It was reported that forging and printing equipment had also been found. It had been alleged in the newspapers that a person who was a member of the WP was involved.
Mr MacEntee: "Where did he disappear to?".
Mr De Rossa: "I have no idea."
Mr MacEntee: "East Germany?"
Mr De Rossa:"I have no idea."
Questioned about who the person was, Mr De Rossa said he was reluctant to involve others who were innocent or entitled to be presumed innocent.
Mr MacEntee asked if this man was called Lynch. Mr De Rossa said Mr Lynch was a member of the WP and an employee of Repsol, a publishing company based at 30 Gardiner Place, Dublin, the headquarters of the WP. Repsol printed pamphlets for the party. It was a non profit organisation.
The directors were all members of the WP. Mr Brian Lynch was a man from Cork, a member of the branch in the Dublin area who worked in the print shop.
Mr MacEntee asked what the connection was between the warehouse in Hanover Quay, where forged notes were found, and Mr Lynch.
Mr De Rossa said it was reported that fingerprints were found but he did not know if that was the case. There were newspaper reports. But he would have to say that he was a sceptic when it came to newspaper reports on these matters.
Mr MacEntee said that in 1984 Mr De Rossa was an elected TD and a member of the ardchomhairle of the Workers' Party, and gardai were coming to his party HQ, having found a very large amount of forged £5 notes in a warehouse in Hanover Quay with the fingerprints of one of the employees of Repsol. Did that not call for vigorous inquiry on his part?
Mr De Rossa said every co operation was given to the Garda. Gardai indicated they were visiting other printing works in the Dublin area. The matter was referred to a meeting of the ardchomhairle or the political committee.
He was pleased that although a file was sent to the DPP, no charges were ever made against anyone connected with the WP or any party member.
Mr MacEntee asked when Mr Lynch disappeared. Mr De Rossa said he presumed Mr Lynch was not available for interview by gardai. Mr MacEntee asked if that was not all the more reason why Mr De Rossa should have wanted to find out if the fingerprints on the forged currency were from a Repsol employee.
Mr De Rossa said yes and they co operated fully with gardai.
Mr MacEntee asked if Mr De Rossa had ever found out who rented the premises at Hanover Quay. He replied that it was a matter, for the Garda.
Mr De Rossa agreed that Repsol was very intimately linked with the WP. Work was primarily on election leaflets and pamphlets.
Mr MacEntee said Repsol owned the Gardiner Place HQ premises. Mr De Rossa said Mr MacEntee had given him that information in the last trial. It was true.
Asked how he did not know that Repsol owned the building, Mr De Rossa said he did not know. He said the WP owned property, the Thomas Ashe Hall, in Cork, although there was a problem with the title, and in Mornington, Co Meath.
Mr De Rossa said that towards the end of his time in the WP, he proposed that the party properties be sold to pay a debt of £500,000.
Mr MacEntee asked if anyone at that stage told him that Repsol owned Mornington or the HQ, Mr De Rossa said if he was saying so then perhaps that was the case.