The High Court has begun hearing an application by former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick to stop his criminal trial going ahead at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in October.
Mr Justice Michael Moriarty has imposed reporting restrictions on the reporting of the application due to concerns that the material being discussed in court could itself prejudice the trial.
Mr FitzPatrick, 66, is facing 27 charges, including making a misleading, false or deceptive statement to auditors and of furnishing false information from 2002 to 2007.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Earlier this month, Circuit Court judge Martin Nolan ruled the trial should go ahead on 5 October.
He rejected an application made on behalf of Mr FitzPatrick that the trial should be postponed due to concerns about the "cascade" of negative publicity that had surrounded the separate trial of three former Anglo officials, which concluded in July.
Mr FitzPatrick's legal team have now asked the High Court to overturn that decision.
They want the trial to be stopped or to be postponed either indefinitely or for a fixed period of time of at least 12 months.
Last week, Paul O'Higgins SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court he had concerns about media coverage of the judicial review application if the consequence was that all of the matters that had been reported in the media were re-reported.
Judge Moriarty imposed a ban on reporting the detail of this application until he gives his judgment.
He has indicated he will give that judgment tomorrow.
Lawyers for Mr FitzPatrick told Mr Justice Moriarty that they believed Mr FitzPatrick could never get a fair trial. and the court should grant an injunction stopping the trial permanently.
Senior Counsel Bernard Condon said the very least that should be granted to him was an adjournment of twelve months.
Mr Condon said Mr FitzPatrick had never attempted to frustrate the trial process. He had never sought to stop his trial going ahead. He was willing to go on trial and answer the charges put to him.
He said it was not Mr FitzPatrick's fault that his trial was to follow the trial of three Anglo officials which ended in July.
He said a "cascade of negativity" had been visited on Mr FitzPatrick as a result of that trial.
Incredibly damaging things had been said about him with impunity and reported with absolute privilege.
He said Mr FitzPatrick had suffered the "trashing of his character" in that trial.
He said Mr FitzPatrick had had no opportunity to protect himself against the allegations made and they had gone into the public sphere as facts.
He said the air of vengeance stoked up by the media was extraordinary. Mr Condon said there was no need for Mr FitzPatrick's trial to be "railroaded" on in October.
Mr Condon said Mr FitzPatrick had only ever sought a fair trial. He was not seeking anything special.
He wanted what every other citizen in the country would get - a fair trial in front of an impartial jury.
He said the public might hate him but they only knew the caricature, not the real man.
Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutors told the court there was no perfect time for this trial to take place from Mr Fitzpatrick's point of view.
Mr O'Higgins said there was a distinction between prejudicial comment and prejudicial comment which could prevent the trial going ahead.
He said there was no doubt that it would be "fairer" if a trial such as this could take place in circumstances of complete sterility. But he said almost no trial took place in such circumstances.
He said it was true there had a been a large quantity of "unfavourable publicity" about Mr FitzPatrick but none of it related to the specific matters with which he was charged.
Mr O'Higgins said the concept of a fair trial was to ensure the fairest possible trial a person could have in the particular circumstances of his case.
He said if there was a groundswell against someone, it was up to the trial judge to ensure the jury focused on the charges in front of them.
He said the DPP would always prefer a situation where nothing had to be said to the jury by the trial judge in relation to matters like these. But he said just because the trial judge had to address these issues did not mean the trial could not go on.
He said whenever this trial took place, it would not take place in a vacuum. He said it was unrealistic to suggest the fade factor would ever take effect in this case the way it would in some others.
He said the issues in the case arose out of a series of events that took place some years ago and were not going to disappear in two or four or six years time.
He said the trial could go on fairly in October.
Mr Justice Moriarty has indicated that he is unlikely to grant any order that would bring a permanent end to Mr FitzPatrick's prosecution.
Mr Justice Moriarty said he would give his judgment at 12pm tomorrow.
