Cork property developer Owen O'Callaghan has lost on all grounds a bid to prevent the Mahon tribunal further inquiring into or making any findings on allegations made against him by developer Tom Gilmartin.
The tribunal proposes to continue those inquiries in its Quarryvale Two module.
At the High Court today, after dismissing the proceedings by Mr O'Callaghan and others, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth continued for another week, with the consent of the sides, a stay on the tribunal conducting public hearings in the Quarryvale Two module.
The stay was continued to allow Mr O'Callaghan's lawyers consider whether to bring an appeal to the Supreme Court and the case was adjourned for mention to Wednesday next.
The proceedings against the tribunal were brought by Mr O'Callaghan; Mr John Deane, a solicitor and a partner in O'Callaghan Properties; Riga Ltd, of Lavitt's Quay, Cork and Barkhill Ltd, the company which developed the Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin.
Mr O'Callaghan had claimed Mr Gilmartin has made "entirely untrue" allegations in private to the tribunal, including claims that Mr O'Callaghan had made offshore payments to senior politicians. He claimed those allegations were never mentioned in evidence by Mr Gilmartin at the tribunal's public sessions and were concealed by the tribunal.
The tribunal had ignored "glaring" inconsistencies between Mr Gilmartin's private statements to its lawyers and his evidence on oath and he no longer has faith in the fairness of the tribunal's process, Mr O'Callaghan said.
He accused it of bias against him and in favour of Mr Gilmartin in relation to its treatment of Mr Gilmartin's evidence in its Quarryvale One module. In his reserved judgment, Mr Justice Smyth rejected all of those claims.