In April 1997, a tribunal of inquiry into payments to politicians began taking evidence.
The full title of the inquiry was Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters (known as the Moriarty and later the Mahon Tribunal).
With no television cameras or radio microphones allowed access to tribunal proceedings held at Dublin Castle, 'The Vincent Browne Show' on RTÉ Radio 1 decided to act out selected excerpts from the transcripts of the day's proceedings. During the following years several other tribunals also opened and 'The Vincent Browne Show' covered the proceedings in the same way.
Principally acted by Joe Taylor and Malcom Douglas, who play multiple parts, the often dry legal proceedings of the tribunals have been enlivened for listeners to 'The Vincent Browne Show'.
The clip produced here is a re-enactment from the proceedings of the Planning Tribunal. The Planning Tribunal was established by An tOireachtas in October 1997 under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Feargus Flood. It was set up to investigate the planning history of 726 acres of land in north County Dublin.
In this extract, Joe Taylor plays the part of Mr James Gogarty and Malcom Douglas plays the part of Mr John Gallagher, Senior Counsel for the tribunal. In his evidence, Mr Gogarty recalls a meeting in Swords, County Dublin in June 1989 at the home of former government minister Mr Ray Burke.
