The European Investment Bank is to consider several other Irish nominees for its vice-presidency and will examine hundreds of protests against the controversial nomination of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty before deciding whether to give the post to the former judge.
A bank spokesman confirmed yesterday that "a number" of other nominations had been received since the controversy began over the Government's nomination of Mr O'Flaherty to the position. These names, together with hundreds of e-mails and letters to the bank protesting against the O'Flaherty nomination, will now be circulated to the bank's directors in the next few days.
They will then decide on a nominee to be put for approval to the governors - the economic and finance ministers of the EU member-states. The selection process may take up to five weeks, according to the EIB spokesman.
It is the practice of the bank to accept the name put forward by the relevant member-state for appointment and it could not be ascertained last night whether the lengthy controversy would have any effect on this practice.
While the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed Mr Denis Riordan's challenge to the Government's nomination of Mr O'Flaherty, it said this "purported" nomination had "no legal effect". It was "a recommendation, having no effect in law, conveyed by the executive to another body".
This judgment contrasts with the Government's assertions in the past to the effect that its choice would get the job.
On May 23rd, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said: "For the coming four years, one of the EIB vice-presidents will be Mr Hugh O'Flaherty when his nomination is endorsed by the governors of the bank." The Government's counsel told the High Court last month that "the entitlement to nominate a candidate to the position of vice-president of the EIB is a political matter decided at intergovernmental level between the member-states".
The Supreme Court has given a different interpretation, saying that the Government's nomination of Mr O'Flaherty had "no effect in law". However the court also noted that the board of directors and board of governors of the bank normally accepted the name of the person put forward by the relevant EU member-state.
Despite losing the case, Mr Riordan and the writer and political campaigner Mr Michael Nu gent, who assisted him in his action, claimed victory last night.
"Everyone in Ireland knows what this case was really about, whether this job was a political appointment in the gift of the Government, or whether it was a banking job that anyone should be able to apply for," they said. "It is now 100 per cent clear that it is a banking job that any citizen can apply for."
The EIB's official spokesman said yesterday that once the bank received official notification of yesterday's Supreme Court decision, the appointment procedure would recommence.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Finance said last night Mr McCreevy wrote to the president of the EIB, Mr Philippe Maystadt, yesterday confirming that the court proceedings in Ireland were now over and that Mr O'Flaherty remained the Government's nominee. "The nomination process is completed at this end," Mr McCreevy said through a spokeswoman, "and it is a matter for the EIB now."
Fine Gael and Labour have again called for the withdrawal of Mr O'Flaherty's name.
The nomination procedure has been suspended since June, the EIB spokesman said, as it would not be appropriate to proceed with it while court action was pending. It will be done entirely in writing between the bank's directors and its governors.
While normally this could be completed in two or three weeks, the impending holiday period could lengthen this time to five weeks, he said.
The nomination of Mr O'Flaherty, that of environmentalist and economist Mr Richard Douthwaite and at least one other person will now be sent to the directors for their consideration.