The Morris tribunal chairman said yesterday that those fulfilling his type of function appeared to have become fair game for whatever criticism anyone chose to hurl at them.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris said it was a mystery to him that simply because he chose to take up the chairing of a tribunal that he should be allowed to become a cockshy for anybody who wanted to make comments towards him.
The chairman was responding to an application by solicitor Patrick Dorrian for an adjournment of the "silver bullet" module on the grounds that his client, Det Sgt John White, wanted to take proceedings in the High Court on whether it was legal for him to attend as a witness and answer for the same conduct for which he was acquitted in the Circuit Court.
During the course of his application, Mr Dorrian said it was unfair that in the previous module, Sgt White had been described as a liar in the preliminary finding.
Mr Justice Morris said he had been a practising barrister for many years and subsequently a member of the High Court and then president of the High Court.
It was a mystery to him that as one who had carried out his functions and his duties throughout a lifetime in the courts, he had avoided the type of criticism he had been subjected to that morning.
"And simply because I take on a function of chairing a tribunal like this, it appears that I and anybody fulfilling this type of function becomes fair game for whatever criticism anyone chooses to hurl at them," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Mr Dorrian, he said: "I have never before in my life been accused of unfairness to anybody and I must say it comes as a shock to me to hear a man for whom I have the utmost respect like Mr Dorrian making an allegation of that sort."
He said he could not say he resented it because he knew Mr Dorrian was acting on his client's instructions.
"But why it should be that simply because I choose to take up the onus of chairing a tribunal that I should be allowed to become a cockshy of anybody who wants to make that sort of comment towards me is a mystery to me and I'll say no more now. I'll simply refuse Mr Dorrian's application," the chairman said.
The exchange came at the start of the "silver bullet" module,which is looking into the circumstances of the arrests and detention of Mark McConnell and Michael Peoples.
The arrests arose after Bernard Conlon alleged that on July 20th, 1998, the two men called to his home and threatened him with a silver bullet.
Mr Conlon was convicted in March 2003 of making false statements to gardaí.
Earlier, Mr Dorrian said Sgt White stood trial on January 11th and 18th on six charges, namely that he procured Bernard Conlon on three occasions to make false statements and that Sgt White made false statements on the same dates. Sgt White was acquitted.
It was a matter of concern to his client that the tribunal in the previous module had branded Sgt White a liar, he said.
"This gives rise to real and grave concerns that the facility of facing an impartial tribunal has been withdrawn from him and that there has been an adverse finding of fact not only with regard to his credibility but also to his general good character. To declare someone to be a liar in the course of a tribunal places Sgt White at a hopeless and irrecoverable disadvantage," he said.
"To use the expression 'a liar' is repulsive, insulting and leaves my client in a position, in the present module that we're embarking on, that he cannot change your perception of his position," Mr Dorrian said.