Feargus Flood, the judge who chaired landmark planning tribunal, dies aged 94

The death has occurred of former planning tribunal chairman Mr Justice Feargus Flood.

Mr Justice Flood, who died on Saturday at the age of 94, presided over the landmark tribunal into planning corruption in Dublin for almost six years, between 1997 and 2003.

Originally established to examine allegations of corruption against former Fianna Fáil minister Ray Burke, its remit was gradually extended to cover wider claims of corruption against developers and politicians in the capital, as well as former assistant Dublin city and county manager George Redmond.

Mr Justice Flood chaired the tribunal for 390 days of public evidence in Dublin Castle, before stepping down when other judges were appointed to the inquiry.

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The government originally appointed him as chairman and sole member of the tribunal to inquire into a series of land deals in north Co Dublin. It was set up following revelations that Mr Burke, a former minister for foreign affairs, had received £30,000 in cash from Jim Gogarty, a senior executive of a major building firm, in June 1989. Mr Burke admitted receiving the money but said it was a political donation.

In its early days, his tribunal was the subject of fierce attacks, some of which were designed to curtail its investigation of political corruption.

However, the evidence given by the octogenarian Mr Gogarty against Mr Burke was decisive in anchoring the tribunal and its chairman in the popular imagination.

Mr Justice Flood’s tussles with recalcitrant witnesses and argumentative lawyers became the staple of late-night radio re-enactments and even a theatrical show.

When Mr Justice Flood published his interim report on payments to Mr Burke in 2002, hundreds of members of the public queued on the street to buy it. The report’s direct language and its finding that the payments were corrupt won critical and popular favour.

Mr Justice Flood was born in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal. The son of a banker, he was educated at Castleknock College, UCD and the King’s Inns. He was appointed to the High Court in 1991, and was already past the normal pension age when he was appointed to the tribunal in November 1997.

The tribunal, whose official name was the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, continued to sit and issued a final report, covering payments to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in 2012.

Although Mr Justice Flood enjoyed massive public support for his investigations, many of the findings in his report were unpicked in subsequent court proceedings.

He is survived by his wife Anna and his children Richard, Micheline and Suzi. His funeral takes place on Thursday.