The auctioneer John Finnegan has told the Flood Tribunal that he might seek a judicial review in the High Court of the Tribunal's right to investigate him. His lawyer has asked the Chairman of the Flood Tribunal to release him from the current module because he claims to have no relevance to it. Lawyers for the Flood Tribunal have rejected his submissions as a publicity stunt.
Mr Finnegan's barrister said that a crucial document that would clear his client of any involvement in a payment to Ray Burke has been withheld from evidence. Dominic Hussey claimed that it would have been the final nail in the coffin for any case against his client and he should therefore have been released from the Tribunal. Instead, he said, what happened was a character assassination and an unwarranted investigation into his business affairs. He said that John Finnegan had suffered incalculable damage because of media coverage of remarks made by Tribunal counsel, Patrick Hanratty.
Mr Hanratty said that, like it or not, John Finnegan was involved with Brennan and McGowan land deals. He described Mr Hussey's submission as ludicrous and a publicity stunt. The Tribunal Chairman, Mr Justice Feargus Flood, refused his application and said that he would have an opportunity to vindicate his name. Mr Finnegan may now take the matter to the High Court for a judicial review, during which he will ask the Tribunal to suspend all questioning relating to him.
In a separate development, the builder Tom Brennan will know tomorrow whether he will be sent to the High Court to have an order for discovery enforced against him. He missed today's deadline for submission of documents but after hearing details of the efforts he made to obtain them, the Tribunal has deferred any decision until tomorrow.
