ACTION should be taken against whoever was responsible fur the delay in informing the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, of Judge Dominic Lynch's removal from the Special Criminal Court, according to the former chairman of the Bar Council, Mr Frank Clarke SC.
"It is a very serious matter," he said, and "if someone is shown to be culpable, then action should be taken". Mr Clarke was speaking at celebrations in the Four Courts, Dublin, yesterday. He said any reasonable person should wait until the results of the inquiry were made public before making any judgment.
Judge Dominic Lynch was also at the celebrations but declined to comment, as did Mrs Owen.
Mr James Nugent SC the chairman of the Barr Council, said he did not wish the council to become embroiled in a political issue. He said public confidence in the judicial system should be increasing. "There is greater openness in the judiciary and the professions," he said. "It's an openness to change and to listen - a change in attitude rather than in the law."