Mr Liam Lawlor TD is, at best, a few days away from jail. Many will cheer the prospect. For five years now - ever since the McCracken tribunal reported on the corrupting interface between business and politics and the existence of the Ansbacher accounts - the cynics have insisted that nobody of stature would ever see the inside of an Irish prison on foot of the investigations of the Dublin Castle tribunals. They are about to be proved wrong. In the course of his judgement, yesterday, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth said he wanted to make it clear there were "no untouchables in Irish life". He then issued a ruling that may open a new chapter in public accountability in this State. Mr Lawlor is not bound for prison because he has been found guilty of corrupt behaviour. No such charge is proven. He is to be locked up because he brazenly refused to live up to his responsibilities, both as a citizen and as an elected member of the Dail, to co-operate with a judicial investigation he himself had voted into existence. For an ordinary citizen to be found in such contempt, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth said, would be a disgrace, but for a public representative it was a scandal.
Mr Lawlor may appeal that judgement to the Supreme Court. But if it decides not to become involved, he will spend a week in jail, starting tomorrow. After that, if he fails to comply with a High Court order directing his full co-operation with the Flood tribunal, the remainder of a three-month suspended sentence will take effect. And he has been ordered to pay a £10,000 fine. The ruling of Mr Justice Smyth was as tough as anyone could have expected. It was designed not just to punish Mr Lawlor for the arrogance of his past behaviour in challenging the authority of the tribunal, along with rulings of the High and Supreme Courts, but to encourage him to mend his ways, under threat of further retribution. The jail sentence will also send an unmistakable message to other witnesses who are due to appear before both Mr Justice Flood and Mr Justice Moriarty in the coming months. A refusal to fully co-operate with an investigation established by the Dail has become a serious issue indeed. And the coercive powers of the tribunals have been exposed in all of their potency.
The opposition parties at Leinster House have welcomed the judgement. Fine Gael called for Mr Lawlor's resignation as a TD. Failing that, it suggested the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, should table a motion to remove him from membership of three Dail committees - Finance and Public Services, Public Enterprise and Transport, and Procedure and Privileges. The Labour Party wanted Fianna Fail to cut any remaining ties with the Independent TD. The Green Party welcomed the judgement as evidence of a new and genuine era of accountability. Given that level of agreement, it is certain the Government will come under intense pressure to signal its disapproval of Mr Lawlor's behaviour when the Dail meets at the end of the month. The opposition parties are pushing an open door where the Progressive Democrats are concerned for it supported Mr Lawlor's removal as vice chairman of the Finance and Public Services Committee last week. The High Court judgement has raised the political stakes at Leinster House. It is now up to the Taoiseach to clarify Fianna Fail's position on the matter.