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 it 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 added today when deciding another judge will 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.
The judge said he was not to be taken as accepting, in whole or in part, that Ryanair’s claims in its motion are or might be correct. Nor was he ruling himself out from the possibility of hearing other cases involving Ryanair in the future.
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, the judge also 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 today after directing Ryanair to put its case on affidavit.
The judge noted, in an affidavit, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary had said, given Mr Justice Kelly’s conduct of the recent application by Ryanair for judicial review of proposed new charges at Dublin Airport between 2010 and 2014, and his expressed view Ryanair is not disposed to the truth, Ryanair “has a reasonable apprehension of bias in these proceedings and all Ryanair proceedings”.
The judge said it was clear the bulk of the complaints by Mr O’Leary 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 CEO 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.
“In the circumstances, it is difficult to see how any judge could have come to a conclusion other than I did.”
