Mr James Gogarty left Dublin Castle yesterday like an old matinee idol, one hand gripping his walking-stick and the other raised in acknowledgement of the cheers from a waiting throng of well-wishers.
Queen Mother-like, he waved at the crowd as his driver took him away from one of the most bizarre cross-examinations in Irish legal history.
Five days of verbal blitzkrieg by Mr Colm Allen SC, for developer Mr Michael Bailey, have left Mr Gogarty defiant and unbowed. To his well-heeled, mostly elderly fans in the public gallery he is, now more than ever, the people's champion.
Mr Allen's cross-examination was marked by repeated name-calling, swearing and vulgar comments on both sides.
The octogenarian witness gave as good as he got in a tussle which was at times hilarious, surreal and frustrating.
It was hard to say whether Mr Allen made any major inroads during his cross-examination.
He identified a number of inconsistencies in Mr Gogarty's story but never came near to scoring a "direct hit".
Arguably his major contribution to Mr Bailey's case was to outline a detailed version of the developer's version of events, in particular how Mr Gogarty came to be in possession of a £50,000 cheque from Mr Bailey.
But having promised the famous "big, big ambush," Mr Allen was always going to be the victim of his own hype.
Aside from the bombast and invective, he spent much of the time explaining that "Mr Bailey will say" this or that when he comes to give evidence. He could do this only because Mr Bailey has failed to provide the tribunal with a detailed statement up to now.
In any case, Mr Gogarty's response nearly every time was a flat denial. "No, N-O, micheart!" he exclaimed at one point.
In tune with the more restrained atmosphere on the last day of his cross-examination, Mr Allen opened proceedings by apologising for his remarks the previous day about Mr Gogarty's counsel, Mr Frank Callanan SC. As though saving the best wine until last, Mr Allen finally came yesterday to deal with the famous meeting at which money was paid to Mr Ray Burke in June 1989. He outlined Mr Bailey's version of the events which gave rise to the tribunal.
There was agreement on superficial details: the money paid to Mr Burke came in two envelopes; Mr Bailey, like Mr Gogarty, cannot remember the date of the meeting; both men said Mr Burke ushered them into a side-room in his house and appeared to be in a hurry throughout the short encounter.
According to Mr Bailey, he was contacted by Mr Gogarty, who said he wanted to make a political donation to Fianna Fail. No reason was given yesterday, and no amount was specified. Mr Bailey, a member of a local Fianna Fail cumann for 20 years, recommended the money be paid to Mr Burke. On the day of the meeting, Mr Gogarty arrived before noon at Mr Bailey's building site office in Swords, according to Mr Bailey. The two men travelled in Mr Bailey's car the mile or so to Mr Burke's home.
Once there, Mr Bailey performed the introductions and Mr Gogarty opened his folder and handed the politician two envelopes.
Mr Gogarty asked how the election was going. "Ray Burke said he was so busy trying to cover his own patch, he didn't know how things were going nationally," Mr Allen said.
According to Mr Bailey, he did not give any envelope to Mr Burke and Mr Joseph Murphy jnr was not present, as Mr Gogarty has alleged.
And that was that. The two men drove back to Swords in silence.
In contrast, Mr Gogarty has alleged that on this journey they discussed making a payment to the then assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond.
Mr Bailey will say that he did not introduce Mr Gogarty to Mr Redmond, as the witness has alleged. Rather, it was the other way around, Mr Allen said.
Mr Redmond agrees with this version. Mr Allen read from Mr Redmond's second statement, in which he says he was paid £25,000 "hello money" for introducing Mr Bailey to Mr Gogarty, who was looking for a buyer for lands at Forest Road, Swords.
Mr Redmond accepts that he provided advice to Mr Gogarty on how to extend the planning permission on the Forest Road lands, which was about to expire.
"I fully accept that I advised him what to write to the council in relation to seeking to agree the amount of financial contribution, but I neither expected nor did I receive any payment in respect of this advice," he says.
Mr Allen finished as he started, with a not entirely conclusive attack on the witness.
The Murphy group made a further political donation in 1989, he revealed, this time to the Progressive Democrats.
Counsel produced a cheque for this amount, signed by Mr Gogarty. The payee was left blank, but Mr Allen read a handwritten note by a group employee indicating that this was done on Mr Gogarty's instructions.
"Bullshit, bullshit," the witness responded. Mr Allen said this was "as eloquent an illustration as we are likely to get of your approach to life, warts and all". Then he sat down. The tribunal resumes on April 12th, probably with the cross-examination by lawyers for a former Murphy group executive.
But for Mr Gogarty, the worst is over.