Final reports on Burke investigation due soon

Final reports on the Flood tribunal's investigations into the former Fianna Fβil minister, Mr Ray Burke, will be published within weeks, it is now expected.

Speculation is mounting that the tribunal will then adjourn for a lengthy period, possibly for several months, before starting hearings into allegations of corruption in planning in Dublin. However, a further delay could arise if this politically explosive investigation overlaps with the run-up to the general election, predicted for next June. The tribunal was set up over four years ago.

There is also growing uncertainty surrounding the unexplained delay in appointed extra judges to work on the tribunal. Last June, Mr Justice Flood asked the Dβil for two more judges to assist him on the planning module of the tribunal's work, but no announcements have been made. At 73, the tribunal chairman is well past the normal retirement age for judges.

Meanwhile, The Irish Times understands that Mr Burke has launched a furious attack on the tribunal, accusing it of bias and hostility towards him during its investigations into Century Radio.

Mr Burke says Mr Justice Flood alone should compile and write the report into the Century investigations. It would be "inappropriate" for the tribunal's legal team to write it because of the "imbalance and inequality" of their treatment of him compared to their treatment of RT╔ witnesses.

He also accused the tribunal of "stage management" and "pre-arranged ambushes" by interrupting his cross-examination earlier this year.

The comments are made in a written submission by his legal team at the end of the Century hearings. The tribunal has spent over a year investigating Mr Burke's relations with Century, and in particular a £35,000 payment to him by the station's founder, Mr Oliver Barry.

Mr Burke also complains of "marked hostility" to him by tribunal counsel and the chairman. Both men are accused of dealing with interventions by Mr Burke's lawyer "in an aggressive and hostile manner".

The main tribunal lawyer in the Century hearings was Mr Pat Hanratty SC, who is leaving to return to private practice at the Bar.

The tribunal's reports into Mr Burke's receipt of payments from Mr James Gogarty and from Mr Barry are believed to be virtually complete. The two reports, along with a report on Mr Burke's finances and his links with builders Brennan and McGowan, will be published shortly after the current hearings are completed.

However, the tribunal will not be able to proceed with the next stage of its work until the new judges have been appointed and given time to prepare for the hearings. The Sunday Tribune reported yesterday that the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, would not be moving to the tribunal, as had been expected.

Even after these three reports are published, Mr Burke still faces investigation over the £30,000 Rennicks payment he received in 1989.