Convicted drug dealer John Gilligan has claimed before the High Court that his former associate John Traynor "had Veronica Guerin murdered" but he (Gilligan) had "nothing to do with it".
In an hour-long address to the High Court opposing a bid by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) to have a receiver appointed to his properties, Gilligan, who was acquitted of the murder of Ms Guerin, said the only reason he was facing the receivership action was because of the killing of the journalist in June 1996.
"That was a horrible thing that happened to her, but I had nothing to do with it," he said.
Gilligan (55), who was repeatedly told by Mr Justice Kevin Feeney to stick to the case before the court, persisted in referring to the case of Ms Guerin.
He said: "John Traynor had Veronica Guerin murdered." He added: "He [ Traynor] said to me he stole Brian Meehan's telephone . . .", but was then again interrupted by the judge and told not to go into the criminal case against him. Brian Meehan is the only person who has been convicted of Ms Guerin's murder, which conviction he is currently appealing. The location of his mobile phone on the day of the killing was crucial to his conviction.
After concluding legal submissions in the Cab application yesterday, Mr Justice Feeney reserved judgment until next Monday.
The Cab wants to have its legal officer appointed receiver to properties owned by Gilligan and members of his family. The High Court has previously found the properties were bought with the proceeds of crime.
During his submissions yesterday, Gilligan twice said he had nothing to do with Ms Guerin's murder and said "Lord have mercy on her" each time he mentioned her name.
He and his family had repeatedly faced attempts to have their homes and property seized arising from Ms Guerin's murder, he said.
Public opinion had been turned against him because of a "frenetic campaign against me" in the immediate aftermath of Ms Guerin's murder.
Gilligan was opposing the application to have a Cab receiver appointed over several properties, including Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in Meath and two houses in Lucan.
He said he now owns nothing, that he had signed over Jessbrook to his ex-wife Geraldine in 1995 and that his name was included in error on legal documents relating to the Lucan homes which he had helped his son Darren and daughter Tracey to buy.
The inclusion of his name on legal documents connected with the houses was because of a mistake by his solicitor at the time, he said.
When Darren and Tracey bought the Lucan houses, he said he had asked the solicitor to make sure he could be notified if any attempt was made by his children to have a loan taken out on the properties. This was because Darren was on drugs and Tracey's partner at the time was "a conman", Gilligan said.
Gilligan told the court yesterday he bought Jessbrook in 1984/5 before he built an indoor 3,500-seat arena on it. This was never finished and it did not even have electricity, he said.
He said he had signed over Jessbrook to Geraldine after "ruining her life".
"Why would I want to have half [of my children's] homes when I don't even want a blade of grass in Jessbrook," he said.
He said he intended living in Corduff Avenue in Blanchardstown, in the original family home bought in 1997 for €10,400, "till I die".