A HIGH Court judge has said he does not resile “one iota” from his findings and comments in a recent court action that Ryanair told untruths to and about the court and about Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and that the airline and the truth made “uncomfortable bedfellows”.

It was hard to see how any other judge, on the evidence, could have concluded otherwise, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said yesterday when deciding another judge would hear a separate action against Ryanair by three airport authorities over alleged delays in paying airport charges.

The judge stressed his decision to have the authorities’ case heard by another judge was to ensure that case was not delayed or made more costly by Ryanair’s application for him to withdraw on grounds it had a reasonable apprehension the judge was biased against it.

He was not to be taken as accepting, in whole or in part, that Ryanair’s claims in its motion were or might be correct, nor was he ruling himself out from the possibility of hearing other cases involving Ryanair. If Ryanair or its agents misrepresented his decision on this application or the basis and rationale for it, he would regard such misrepresentation as a contempt of court, he warned.

Ryanair had applied last week to Mr Justice Kelly to withdraw from hearing the authorities action and all proceedings involving Ryanair on grounds of “a reasonable apprehension” of bias given his conduct of recent proceedings brought by Ryanair.

The judge adjourned the matter to yesterday after directing Ryanair to put its case on affidavit.

The judge said it was clear the bulk of the complaints by Mr O’Leary in his affidavit related to the judge’s recent decision on the judicial review proceedings in which the court had to deal with “very serious misbehaviour” by Ryanair.

In the course of Mr O’Leary’s “tendentious and sometimes inaccurate” affidavit, the judge said the chief executive had accurately recorded the judge’s finding that factual misstatements in affidavits put before the court on behalf of Ryanair had misled the court in a material way.

Mr O’Leary had accurately stated the judge had said, having considered Ryanair’s untruth to and about the court, and untruths about the Minister, “one has to conclude that the truth and Ryanair are uncomfortable bedfellows”.

“I do no resile one iota from those findings or those comments,” he said.

He added the untruths to the court were admitted by Ryanair and the untruths about the court were admitted by Mr O’Leary in the witness box. The judge added he had analysed Ryanair’s conduct towards the Minister in its public relations campaign and concluded untruths were told by it about the Minister.

When he became a High Court judge, he had made the declaration required by Article 34.5 of the Constitution to execute his office without fear or favour, affection or ill-will towards any man, and to uphold the Constitution and the laws, he said.

He took that declaration seriously then, had done so throughout his judicial career and continued to do so today.

He decided every case on the evidence heard and his judgment was not influenced by evidence in other cases “or any extraneous material whatsoever”.

While Ryanair suggested its application for the judge to withdraw would take half a day to hear, the judge said he believed it would take longer as Mr O’Leary would have to be cross-examined on his affidavit. The matter could not be heard before the end of this legal year on July 31st, the judge observed.

Noting the authorities case had been transferred to the Commercial Court on their application last February, the judge said the Commercial Court had limited resources and should be alert to ensure a party which sought to avail of its procedures should not have its case derailed by the bringing of applications which served to delay and incur costs.

It was in all those circumstances he had asked Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan to hear the authorities’ case.