Burke ruling may affect Justice Finnegan

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, is one of the lawyers who could be affected if the former minister, Mr Ray Burke, is unable to pay the €10 million legal bill.

Mr Justice Finnegan as a senior counsel represented Mr Burke before he was elevated to the High Court.

Earlier this year Mr Burke's current senior counsel, Mr Aidan Walsh, told the tribunal that his client "was not in a position to pay" his legal fees arising from Mr Burke's five-year involvement with the inquiry.

Neither Mr Walsh nor Mr Vincent Shannon, the solicitor who has represented Mr Burke, were at the tribunal hearing yesterday morning at which Judge Alan Mahon rejected Mr Burke's application for the State to pay his €10.5 million legal bill.

Mr Shannon's office declined to comment on the judge's findings yesterday afternoon.

In June 2003 the former chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Flood, published a statement on the inquiry's website stating that Mr Justice Finnegan supported his view that no deal had been reached with Mr Burke's legal team for the State to pay his costs.