CIE case deferred due to O'Leary illness

A legal action arising from the alleged wrongful dismissal of a former CIÉ chairman, Mr Dermot O'Leary, has been adjourned at the High Court to January next, due to Mr O'Leary's being ill.

Mr O'Leary is seeking an order to restore him to the position of chairman of CIÉ, in addition to damages. A claim that he was the victim of a conspiracy by two civil servants to have him removed is not being proceeded with.

Mr O'Leary claims he was dismissed as chairman, while the State claims he tendered his resignation at a meeting with former Government minister, Mr Michael Lowry, on April 25th, 1995.

Mr Justice Kelly yesterday fixed January 13th next for the hearing of Mr O'Leary's claim. The judge was told Mr O'Leary was suffering from a medical condition, was unfit to attend court and would not be available for at least a month.

Mr Colm Allen SC, for Mr O'Leary, said the court would be asked to decide whether Mr O'Leary had been wrongly sacked or fired from his position, or whether he had resigned.

Mr Allen said that "events had overtaken" Mr O'Leary's other claim that two senior civil servants had engaged in a conspiracy to have him removed from his post. Some of the witnesses who would have been central to that claim had died and the matter was no longer before the court.

Mr Brian O'Moore SC, for the State, said the proceedings related to a critical meeting lasting between four and 10 minutes in April 1995. Mr O'Leary's application for leave to seek a judicial review was not made until March 1996 - 11 months later - and this delay would be one of the issues in the proceedings.

Mr O'Leary was seeking an order quashing his removal from his position as CIÉ's chairman, but, in the meantime, there had not been one but two other chairmen appointed.

The reality was that even before Mr O'Leary began proceedings, those proceedings had been seriously undermined, counsel said.

Mr O'Moore said it would be unreal, after such a long time, for the court to direct Mr O'Leary's reinstatement. His contract had expired in June 1999, Mr O'Moore added.