Exchanges:The chairman of the Mahon tribunal has firmly rejected allegations made by counsel for the Taoiseach that the tribunal judges were being manipulated by their own staff.
Judge Alan Mahon yesterday said Conor Maguire SC had accused the three judges of being "corrupt", of being "crooks" and of "conducting a witch hunt". He asked Mr Maguire to withdraw the allegations.
The remarks were made after the judge made a ruling against submissions made by Mr Maguire on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Maguire had complained on Thursday that documents relating to correspondence with 11 stockbroking firms had been withheld from Mr Ahern's counsel and should not have been. He also complained about the questioning of Mr Ahern on December 21st last about a contribution from stockbroking firm, Davy.
He said examination of the "Building Trust" account, made by tribunal counsel yesterday, was premature and he said the matters being examined had nothing to do with planning at Quarryvale or allegations made that Mr Ahern received £80,000 from Cork developer Owen O'Callaghan.
Judge Mahon rejected the submissions. He also repeated an explanation he had made before Christmas, which outlined the link between the tribunal's current examination of Mr Ahern's accounts and the original allegations made against him by Luton-based developer Tom Gilmartin.
He said the tribunal discovered a number "of very substantial payments of almost entirely cash sums" into Mr Ahern's accounts.
"In a 12-month period there were lodgements of such sums amounting to approximately 2½ times Mr Ahern's known and admitted income at the time," Judge Mahon said. "It was obviously necessary and prudent that the tribunal would seek evidence as to the sources of these substantial payments."
He said the exercise had turned out to be a painstaking, very slow and frustrating investigation. "However, it's a process that has to be completed, not just for the integrity of the tribunal but also to allow Mr Ahern to explain these funds and protect his good name."
Mr Maguire then asked Judge Mahon if tribunal counsel was in any way involved in the assessment of the judges' decision to rule against his submission.
Judge Mahon said the tribunal counsel had identified relevant materials and transcripts, but the decision was made by the judges.
"You are putting into the public arena that you believe we three judges are being manipulated by our counsel and by our staff," he said. "Ideally, you should withdraw that. I doubt you will."
A heated argument ensued between Judge Mahon and Mr Maguire and, although he was requested to withdraw the suggestion he made about the judges, Mr Maguire did not withdraw it.
"The words you are using are not the words I am using," Mr Maguire protested.
Judge Mahon then read back to Mr Maguire his own words and said they had contained an allegation of bias and were disgraceful. He said any member of the public listening would have concluded that Mr Maguire was calling the judges corrupt. His remarks prompted a "hear hear" from many members of the public.
"What I absolutely deplore is this constant theme we have from you, that in some way we are on some sort of a twisted, illegal, corrupt frolic . . . you have said it a dozen times," Judge Mahon said. "Not to you," Mr Maguire replied.
Judge Mahon said they needed to get on with examining Mr Ahern and suggested a 10-minute break "to allow all of us, especially myself, to cool down".
