IN THE afternoon, Mr Reynolds began his evidence by saying that, following his phone call to Mr Spring from Aras an Uachtarain at about 5.30 on the evening of Friday, November 11th, 1994, he had received "no indication at all that the Coalition was over."
He had gone to Aras an Uachtarain for the appointment by Mrs Robinson of Mr Harry Whelehan as President of the High Court. Present with them were Mr Whelehan's successor as Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, and the Minister for Justice, Mrs Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.
In their telephone conversation, Mr Spring and he had agreed that the "line" for presentation to the media was that the Labour members of Cabinet had absented themselves from Government for the decision to appoint Mr Whelehan. There was no reference whatsoever to the Government breaking up.
On the morning of Saturday, November 12th, he spoke to Mr Spring by phone again. Mr Spring was at his home in Tralee. Again there was no indication that the Government was at an end. Mr Reynolds explained to him the understanding of Fianna Fail members of the Cabinet that the Labour Ministers had left the meeting the previous day as they didn't want to be associated with the decision.
Following a meeting between Mr Charlie McCreevy and Mr Noel Dempsey of Fianna Fail, and Mr Brendan Howlin and Mr Ruairi Quinn of Labour, Mr Reynolds received a message at his (Dublin) apartment that he should ring Mr Spring at his Dublin number the following morning and indicate whether he wanted the Government to continue.
It was pointed out to him that the Government had done good work and could continue to do so. He issued a statement, along those lines.
Asked by Lord Williams to outline the performance of the Irish economy under his stewardship, Mr Reynolds said that at the turn of 1994 there were 40,000 more people at work in the Republic, the highest number ever (in a year) in the history of the State.
Growth was more than three times the EU average, inflation was down to 2 per cent, and a current budget deficit had been turned into a surplus for the first time since the 1970s, with a strong trade surplus. "The economy couldn't be growing better," he said, adding that the 7 per cent growth rate in 1994 was "unprecedented" in Irish terms.
The Government had also put through a great amount of legislation, both social and economic. "When we came into office we were right into a financial crisis," he said.
He explained that the growth was continuing and how, as part of the country's preparation for a single European market, there had been a transfer of £8 billion to the Republic to bring it up to the level of development of other (EU) economies. In addition, extra tourism revenue due to the peace process, growing trade between North and South, and increased foreign investment had been "a huge boost".
There was an atmosphere of crisis on the morning of Monday, November 14th, as he and his Fianna Fail Cabinet colleagues came together for a discussion on the developing situation.
He saw the new Attorney General, Mr Fitzsimons, for the first of four meetings they had that day, at 11-11.30 that morning in his office. They were alone. They discussed the developing situation, reorganisation of the Attorney General's office, and the possible impact Government instability might have on the peace process.
Mr Fitzsimons was already addressing Fianna Fail Ministers' in the Taoiseach's anteroom when they met for a second time. It was then and for the first time Mr Reynolds heard a reference to another extradition case.
Mr Fitzsimons didn't know the name of the person involved. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn had a list of extradition cases and, through examining it, Mr Fitzsimons said he thought it was the Duggan case. He also made it clear that he and Mr Matt Russell, senior legal assistant in the AG's office, had "a violent disagreement" over the case.
He made it clear he was going back to do more work on the case, as it was not clear who had handled it at that stage. It looked possible the Smyth case was not the first. He would get a definitive response.
Prompted by Lord Williams, Mr Reynolds explained that Mr Russell was a very senior person in the AG's office. He was an expert on extradition who had written part of the legislation on the matter.
Mr Reynolds also advised Mr Fitzsimons to speak to Mr Whelehan on the matter and see what his views on it were. He explained "that I didn't want an `on-the-one-hand and on-the-other-hand' type of argument. I needed to know exactly where I stood. I am not a lawyer".
He had a further meeting with Mr Fitzsimons later that day. Again they discussed the reorganisation of the AG's office. They discussed Mr Russell and what changes there would have to be. At this point Mr Reynolds explained that a situation of such "violent disagreement" between the AG and his senior legal assistant could not be allowed to continue.
Mr Fitzsimons told him at that meeting Mr Whelehan was to be sworn in as President of the High Court the following day, and that he (Mr Fitzsimons) had been requested by Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn to ask Mr Whelehan to defer the ceremony for a few days. Mr Reynolds endorsed that request and asked Mr Fitzsimons to go to see Mr Whelehan and put the request to him. He also asked that he discuss the escalating political crisis with Mr Whelehan.
All that day Mr Reynolds had been receiving visits and phone calls from people about the effects the crisis might have on the peace process. One person had visited him from Belfast, others from Dublin. The American ambassador also came to see him. It was "a very busy, high-pressure day". He advised Mr Fitzsimons to discuss all these matters with Mr Whelehan.
He agreed with Lord Williams, that if the Duggan case "stacked up" it would create a very serious situation for Mr Whelehan. In light of all this he thought it best if Mr Whelehan was to leave the swearing-in for a few days.
In their fourth meeting that day, Mr Fitzsimons reported to him that Mr Whelehan would not agree to a postponement of the swearing-in ceremony. He did not report back on the Duggan case.
Lord Williams then questioned him about preparations for the Dail debate the following day, Tuesday, November 15th. Mr Reynolds agreed it was customary "in every Minister's Department" for draft speeches to be prepared. Work had begun on the first draft on Monday. Where legal matters were concerned a draft was circulated to the Attorney General's office.
Drafts of the speech were sent to Mr Fitzsimons for his comments. There were some comments back but none about Mr Whelehan's position or the Duggan case.
