A handwriting expert to be called by the Sunday Independent will testify that it is "highly probable" that Sean Garland signed the so-called Moscow letter, the court was told. On the fourth day of a libel action by the former Social Welfare Minister, Proinsias De Rossa, against the Sunday Independent, counsel for the newspaper said the expert would testify that it was "a matter of high probability" the then Workers' Party general secretary signed the letter to the Soviet Communist Party seeking £1 million.
Mr De Rossa said he was not prepared to speculate as to who signed the letter. He would not assassinate someone else's character.
Mr McDowell suggested that Mr Garland had signed the letter and another letter found "in its company" in the files in Moscow and that he had also procured Mr De Rossa's signature.
The witness said counsel could make that case but he was not prepared to agree with it. Mr McDowell: "The man clearly had a motive to procure your signature." Mr De Rossa: "I do not accept that."
Mr McDowell suggested the letter was written either by someone in the WP, someone with access to the party's stationery or someone with an intimate knowledge of Mr De Rossa's travel arrangements in Moscow.
Mr De Rossa replied that there were millions of different possibilities and counsel was asking him to choose one. He agreed the letter was a serious attempt to procure £1 million.
Mr McDowell asked whether he was aware of a follow-up letter also found in the Moscow files. The Democratic Left leader said he understood there was a letter dated September 18th, 1986.
Counsel said there would be evidence from the handwriting expert that it was "overwhelmingly probable" that the second letter was written on the same typewriter as the Moscow letter. The second letter referred to the first one, and Mr McDowell said the forger of the first letter would have to have forged the other one.
Mr De Rossa said that seemed likely.
Mr McDowell asked if he agreed Mr Garland was in the habit of writing "colossal letters of seven, eight or nine pages" and that "whoppers of letters" written by him had been discovered to the legal teams.
The former Minister replied that all politicians wrote very long letters and very long speeches at times.
Mr De Rossa: "When I was Minister for Social Welfare I remember giving a 10-page reply to a question in the Dail." Mr McDowell: "I can imagine". Mr De Rossa: "To you."
He agreed that "of course" it was a possibility that Mr Garland had written the Moscow letter.
Mr McDowell said it was staring Mr De Rossa in the face that Mr Garland did it.
Mr De Rossa replied that it was staring him in the face that the Sunday Independent had libelled him and "I am here to clear my name". Mr McDowell said he was suggesting that somebody had set Mr De Rossa up with the Moscow letter "and left you to carry the can for their stupidity". It was unrealistic of him to expect the jury to believe he had no idea who did this to him.
Mr De Rossa said he hoped the jury would find he had been defamed by the Sunday Independent.
The former Social Welfare Minister is suing the Sunday Independent over an article by Eamon Dunphy published on December 13th, 1992. Mr De Rossa claims the words meant he had confessed to special activities on the part of a political party of which he had been leader; that he was aware of the special activities and they were criminal in nature.
The defence admits it published the article but denies it was published falsely or maliciously. It also admits that the words meant Mr De Rossa had been leader of a party which had previously received funds raised as a result of criminal activities and that there had been public comment on the letter, signed, but not knowingly signed, by him which appeared to refer to such activities.