The former Minister for Social Welfare, Mr Proinsias De Rossa TD, told the High Court that at Christmastime 1992 he had a bonfire in his garden of material relating to the Workers' Party (WP). Under cross-examination by Mr Michael McDowell SC, for Independent Newspapers plc, Mr De Rossa said that he had resigned from the WP in February 1992. He was no longer a member of the party.
Between Christmas and the New Year he decided he wanted to be rid of the memories. He wanted to get on as leader of Democratic Left (DL).
Mr De Rossa was in the witness box on the second day of his libel action against the Sunday Independent concerning an article in the newspaper by Eamon Dunphy on December 13th, 1992.
It is claimed by Mr De Rossa that the words meant and were understood to mean that he had confessed to special activities on the part of a political party of which he had been leader that he was aware of the special activities and that they were criminal in nature.
The defence admits it published the article but denies it was published falsely or maliciously. It also admits the words meant Mr De Rossa had been leader of a party which had previously received funds raised as a result of criminal activities and that there had been public comment on the letter, signed but not knowingly signed by him, which appeared to refer to such activities.
In that sense, the defence adds, the words complained of were true and accurate.
Mr McDowell asked him if he wanted to be rid of memories of a party with which he had spent most of his political life. Mr De Rossa said the papers were relating to election literature, policy documents and constituency files.
Counsel said that every single screed of paper was burned. Mr De Rossa said he did not have the minutes of meetings, these were held by the party.
He said he had had a traumatic break with the party. He was a human being and he did feel things.
He was breaking a relationship with people he had spent a long time with. People with whom he had been very friendly were accusing him of being a traitor. It was a very personally traumatic period of his life.
Mr McDowell asked why he would want to be rid of all the memories of a political lifetime.
Mr De Rossa said the split with the WP was a very traumatic event for him. He was at the time 52 years of age and he had been involved for 40 years. In 1988 he had become leader.
He was forced in 1992 to resign from a lifetime of work. He wanted to look forward and not be a prisoner of the past.
There was great pain. The documents were old, he decided to get rid of it all.
Counsel asked if the fire had been a few days after Mr De Rossa's solicitors had sent a letter to the Sunday Independent's solicitors. The letter was dated December 18th. Mr De Rossa said he burnt the documents between Christmas and New Year.
Mr de Rossa denied the WP had been a hardline Marxist party. He said that in 1983 it established formal links with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and constantly argued with it, telling it not to support the Provisional IRA.
Mr McDowell asked him about Soviet labour camps. Mr De Rossa said he believed at the time, 1983, that it was not probable that they existed.
Pressed by Mr McDowell, he said he did not believe in 1983 that labour camps existed. He believed it was a lot of western propaganda.
Mr De Rossa said they had been assured by people who had visited Ireland from the Soviet Union that there were no labour camps in 1983.
He now accepted that there had been a brutal and oppressive regime in the Soviet Union. He accepted that the WP, which accepted "those lies", had been somewhat uncritical and naive at the time.
The Irish government had established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union during the early 1980s or the 1970s. There was no reason to believe the Irish government would support or have relations with a regime involved in such activities.