"I don't object to the agreement, I object to the manner the Government is destroying the Constitution," said Mr Denis Riordan (51) yesterday after securing leave to challenge the constitutionality of Friday's referendum on the Belfast Agreement.
A former radio officer with the merchant navy and a lecturer in marine communications at Limerick Institute of Technology, Mr Riordan has no legal training but has represented himself in a series of constitutional cases against the State.
In 1994 he took a case to the High Court claiming that the Taoiseach and Tanaiste cannot both be absent from the State at the same time.
He lost the case and a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court last November.
On November 14th he lost a separate case in the High Court claiming the 15th Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1995, on divorce, and the Family Law (Divorce) Act, 1996, were both "repugnant to the Constitution".
He said both pieces of legislation ran counter to Article 41.3 (i) under which the State pledges to protect the institution of marriage. He is currently appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.
Mr Riordan stood as an independent candidate in Limerick East in the 1987 and 1997 general elections, receiving 80 and 112 votes respectively.
He stood for European Parliament elections in 1994, receiving just over 500 votes.
He said he has never applied to be or been a member of a political party. "Politics is the art of lying. I'm interested in law."
He added he was very surprised at Judge Kelly's decision to grant leave for full judicial review today.
On the prospect of representing himself again today, he said: "I'll be very nervous. But I feel it's very important to take on the Oireachtas and the top people of the Government."
