Relations between the partners in Dublin's controversial Spencer Dock development took a nose-dive last Friday after Ray Byrne, a former senior executive of CIE, finished his second stretch on the stand at An Bord Pleanala's marathon inquiry. The normally ebullient Byrne (who has a PhD in public administration) was more than a little flustered under quizzing by Des Johnson, the presiding inspector, who said the task of getting answers to questions about future rail links to Spencer Dock was "like trying to pick up mercury with a fork".
Dermod Dwyer, project manager for the development, was so unhappy with the drift of events that he was overheard telling Byrne to "sit down and shut up". Afterwards, according to impeccable sources, the pair exchanged strong words in the developers' suite at the Gresham Hotel.