Redmond cannot sue tribunal over corruption findings against him

However, he can challenge the refusal of the Flood/Mahon Tribunal to refuse him his legal costs of being represented, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said.

The judge ruled a six-year delay by Mr Redmond in pursuing his civil action against the tribunal was inordinate and inexcusable. Last January, the tribunal asked the High Court to dismiss his case over the delay.

Mr Redmond had claimed the delay was excusable because of the concealment by the tribunal of documents which would have enabled him to test the credibility of its main witness, the late James Gogarty.

The tribunal found in its 2004 third interim report that Mr Redmond, now 88, had received a corrupt payment in relation to planning matters and had also obstructed its work.

Separately, Mr Redmond was convicted of corruption in 2003 and sentenced to 12 months in prison, though this was later overturned on appeal as unsafe. He was retried in 2008 on two corruption charges but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the first count and he was acquitted on the second.

In 2005, Mr Redmond initiated a High Court action seeking to quash the tribunal findings against him. He claimed his constitutional rights had been breached, sought damages, and also challenged a costs order made against him.

He argued the delay was excusable because he was awaiting the outcome of a Supreme Court decision in relation to an action by another tribunal party, Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering (JSME). That ruling, on Apr 21, 2010, had a bearing on his civil case because it was critical of the tribunal’s failure to provide documentation in advance to JMSE witnesses at the tribunal, he said.