The Flood Tribunal has adjourned in disarray after Mr Justice Flood stormed out following a rancorous exchange between himself and counsel for the Murphy group, Garret Cooney.
Mr. Cooney had been complaining during the morning about Mr Gogarty's conduct in the witness box. Following an exchange over the admissibility of a draft document Mr. Cooney asked, “when are you going to give us the chance to defend our clients".
The judge raised his voice and said "Mr. Cooney, that is an insolent and insulting remark". He then said that he was adjourning the proceedings pending an apology and he stormed out to a round of applause from the public gallery. It was later announced that the Tribunal had been adjourned until tomorrow.
Earlier, the tribunal heard allegations that two senior politicians, apart from Ray Burke, received money from Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers. Counsel for JMSE has called on James Gogarty to name the two politicians, one a senior member of Fianna Fáil and the other a senior member of Fine Gael, against whom he made the allegations in a newspaper last May.
The newspaper article did not name the politicians. Garret Cooney, SC, said that he believed the allegations were untrue, but that he wanted the names to illustrate the absurdity of Mr. Gogarty's claim.
The head of the Tribunal legal team, John Gallagher, intervened and argued that it would be inappropriate to hear the names. Mr. Justice Flood agreed, but temporarily adjourned the tribunal, before ruling that the politicians should not be named.
