Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has defended his decision to refuse to meet Frank McBrearty and members of his family yesterday, claiming they failed to agree to the terms of the meeting.
The McBrearty family, however, rejected Mr McDowell's version of events and said they planned to take a European Court action over the refusal by the State to meet their legal costs in advance of findings by the Morris tribunal into allegations of Garda corruption in Donegal.
Mr McDowell last month agreed to meet with Mr McBrearty and his son Frank jnr. The tribunal is deciding on the awarding of costs after each module.
Yesterday Mr McDowell said he had stipulated to the McBreartys that he also wanted to meet with their legal representatives because he wanted to discuss the problems in terms of their legal representation and costs.
He said he was informed by his private secretary that the McBreartys would not bring their legal representatives with them unless the State agreed to pay these costs.
"There are no circumstances under which I am willing to do that," he said.
"I've made that clear both in the Dáil and elsewhere that I am not going to make any agreement whereby one party to this tribunal has its fees paid in advance."
Mr McDowell said they had also brought two other people whom he had not agreed to meet, Mark McConnell, a cousin of the McBreartys and Michael Peoples, whose case and claims of Garda corruption are also being investigated by the tribunal.
Mr McDowell said he could not give a "a special dispensation for them.
"I am not willing to do it. I am particularly disappointed today that having set up a meeting with Mr McBrearty and having emphasised to him that I wanted to see his lawyers here so that I could [ establish] the reasons why they think they can't participate without their money being paid up in advance and why they are in some special situation."
Mr McBrearty jnr, who was part of the McBrearty delegation, told The Irish Times that Mr McDowell had never specifically stipulated that the presence of their lawyers was absolutely necessary.
He said the family was now determined to "fight the Minister in every court, just the way we fought the guards in every court and won".
A number of civil actions by friends and members of the McBrearty family are now before the courts and Mr McBrearty junior's own civil case against the State for damages over his wrongful arrest for murder is due to be heard in the High Court next month.