Gogarty seeks €3.5m legal costs

ONE of the main witnesses in the Planning Tribunal, James Gogarty, 86, has applied for €3.5m in legal costs arising out of his long-running involvement with the inquiry.

The former executive of Santry-based engineering firm JMSE was one of 10 parties who yesterday made submissions at a special sitting of the tribunal at Dublin Castle.

Mr Gogarty’s evidence proved crucial for the findings by the former tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Feargus Flood that former minister Ray Burke received a 30,000 bribe from JMSE in 1989.