Mr James Gogarty was always loyal to Mr Joseph Murphy snr and any queries he raised about management were always in his employer's interest, the tribunal was told yesterday.
Mr Brendan Devine, chartered accountant with Ernst & Whinney, who formerly acted for some of the Murphy companies, said that his impression was that there was always a close relationship between Mr Murphy snr and Mr Gogarty.
In late 1985, Mr Gogarty had been concerned about the passing of the company's affairs to Mr Liam Conroy.
Mr Frank Callanan SC, for Mr Gogarty, said that over time Mr Gogarty became extremely critical of Mr Conroy, Mr Gerry Downes and Mr Marcus Sweeney, executives of JMSE, and felt the control over the Murphy group by Mr Conroy was detrimental to the interests of Mr Murphy snr.
Mr Devine said his feeling was that Mr Gogarty's concern initially was that JMSE was being mismanaged and that the new executive board was not conducting the business of the company properly.
In 1988, Mr Devine said, he met Mr Murphy snr in Dublin. Mr Murphy agreed that Ernst & Whinney should carry out an investigation of records to see if Mr Gogarty's major concerns were correct.
Ernst & Whinney reported that they were satisfied with the company on an accounting basis.
But the personal problems were insoluble, Mr Devine said. The relationship between Mr Gogarty and the executives had totally broken down.
He met Mr Murphy in Guernsey shortly afterwards and it was decided that the three executives would be asked to remain and Mr Gogarty would be asked to resign as a director.
Mr Devine said he was surprised to hear in Mr Gogarty's evidence that Mr Murphy had asked Mr Gogarty to resign and he declined. He said Mr Gogarty's one major concern was his pension.
Mr Conroy had asked him (Mr Devine) to talk to Mr Gogarty and see if they could come to some terms, but he failed. The three executives had said that if Mr Gogarty would not resign, they would. This was conveyed to Mr Murphy snr.
At a meeting on June 6th, 1988, Mr Murphy snr and his legal and accountancy advisers told those present that a new board of directors and a new secretary had been appointed to the Murphy companies. Mr Devine said that after that his professional interest with the Murphy group had ceased.