Not for the first time, the planning tribunal is spinning out of control, writes Paul Cullen
Once again, the planning tribunal is set to ensure that the issue of corruption doesn't rear its ugly head during an election by adjourning public hearings next Friday until polling has taken place in the local and European contests.
Just three weeks after it came back from a leisurely Easter break, the Mahon tribunal plans to disappear into self-imposed exile for a month. By the end of July, it will be time for the summer holidays, which will see hearings suspended for at least a further six weeks.
No wonder the tribunal is behind schedule again. No wonder, too, that just when it seemed to have acquired a new relevance, with convincing evidence from developer Mr Tom Gilmartin, it is losing its way once again.
Rambling cross-examinations, repetitive and irrelevant testimony and a lack of leadership have combined to destroy the initial momentum created by Mr Gilmartin's allegations.
By now, it is clear we will probably have to wait until autumn before we hear from Mr Pádraig Flynn about the £50,000 he got from Mr Gilmartin. The writing of a final report is years away. And as the crowds ebb away, the bills continue to mount for the hapless taxpayer, forced to pay for the protracted efforts of Mr Liam Lawlor and George Redmond to salvage their tarnished reputations.
Why shouldn't the hearings continue during the elections? Only one person who has appeared before the tribunal in this module is standing in the elections. The events under investigation cover a period of between 14 and 17 years ago. It is hard to see what effect they could have on the election campaigns.
Besides, if the tribunal were still nervous about the effect of Mr Gilmartin's allegations on the election campaigns, it could switch hearings. Public inquiries into the ownership of Jackson Way remain unfinished, for example, and have no obvious resonance in modern political life.
It isn't hard to see why the current hearings are taking so long. With Mr Gilmartin's story so hotly contested, opposing lawyers are digging deep for scraps of evidence to support their clients' cases. With daily fees of over €2,000 all but guaranteed, there is little incentive for brevity. Words are analysed, sentences parsed and minor events raked over endlessly in the search for every iota of supporting evidence.
Then there's the amateur barrister show, as both Redmond and Mr Lawlor flail around in the search for justification. Cocooned in the illusion of his own innocence, the jailed former official understandably prefers temporary release in the tribunal to the monotony of Cloverhill Prison. Meanwhile, Mr Lawlor fills the time between his visits to Prague with daily diatribes, lectures and insults. Then there's the issue of irrelevant and repetitive evidence. Why was Fianna Fáil TD Mr Ned O'Keeffe called to give evidence about a trip to Iraq in 1988? Why was the Taoiseach's friend, Mr Tim Collins, called to give an uncontested account of how he never knew Mr Gilmartin? Why were three witnesses called to give the same evidence about Mr Bertie Ahern's alibi for the Leinster House meeting? Could these matters not have been dealt with by letter?
The tribunal moves faster than it used to, but it remains the case that the chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, is responsible for the loss of momentum, as well as the failure to rein in unruly witnesses like Mr Lawlor.
The fact is that the report on Mr Gilmartin could be written today. The developer did come up against serious resistance to his plans, he did pay Mr Flynn £50,000, he did have some sort of meeting with Cabinet ministers in Leinster House and Mr Lawlor got money too - all this is clear from the evidence so far, and no amount of Jesuitical cavilling by lawyers will change this.