Amateur barrister Lawlor savours a rare victory

The question before yesterday's hearing of the Mahon tribunal was not whether Liam Lawlor would mention the tribunal chairman's recently publicised tax difficulties, but when.

As it was, journalists betting on Liam's eagerness to commiserate on Judge Mahon's tax difficulties didn't have to wait long.

Although attempts by the former marathon runner turned amateur barrister to raise the matter at the start were parried by a mistrustful tribunal, Liam was quickly into his stride.

The day had already begun well for him. Given the choice of adopting his or the tribunal's line on the issue of costs, lawyers for both the Attorney General and the Minister for Finance sided with his opinion that these could only be determined at the end, after a report had been issued.

A layman could only conclude that either the tribunal has a unique way of reading the law or Mr Lawlor is a very good lawyer.

Mr Lawlor knows a thing or two about payments, so there was a certain authority in his voice when he addressed the tax issue. Reaching for his most earnest tones, he sympathised with the chairman, "the victim" of a disclosure of his tax affairs that could undermine the tribunal.

Liam Lawlor, he assured us, had always sought to protect the integrity of every citizen's right to privacy in relation to their tax positions with the Revenue Commissioners.

So far, so expected, given last week's revelations about Judge Mahon's tax default. What the chairman can't have reckoned with was Mr Lawlor's use of a newspaper headline with the colourful headline "Liam Prime Suspect in Mahon Tax Set-up" to base a claim that he couldn't get a fair hearing.

So while Judge Mahon squirmed in his seat, Mr Lawlor barrelled along. Not since Liam Lawlor's first visit to Dublin Castle has a tribunal chairman had to deal with such backchat. But on that occasion it was Mr Justice Flood, and he didn't make much progress with the lippy politician, either.

First there was a jibe at the tribunal "looking both directions at the one time" like "the Fianna Fáil manifesto". The tribunal had only spent two hours questioning him about planning in Dublin after three years of investigation, he claimed.

Repeated attempts by the chairman to intervene were swatted down, with the politician declaring: "I'm going to finish this whether you wish or not, chairman". Attempts to switch off his microphone made no difference to the volume or vehemence of Mr Lawlor's voice. Finally, the judge admitted defeat by exiting stage right, leaving the politician to savour one small victory after a long line of defeats.