THE former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, will "deny and deny and deny again" that he misled his cabinet colleagues or lied to the Dail over the Father Brendan Smyth affair, a libel jury at the High Court in London heard yesterday.
Mr Reynolds is suing the Sunday Times newspaper over an article it printed in its English Scottish and Welsh editions on November 20th, 1994, which, he claims, suggested he was a liar.
Under the headline "Goodbye gombeen man", the article described the events leading to the downfall of Mr Reynolds's government, with a sub head: "Why a fib too far proved fatal for the political career of Ireland's peacemaker and Mr Fixit." The newspaper denies libel, pleading qualified privilege and justification.
Mr Reynolds was in court accompanied by his wife, Kathleen, and his eldest daughter, Miriam.
In his opening speech to the jury, Lord Williams QC, representing Mr Reynolds, said the "one thing" that the former Taoiseach and the Sunday Times agreed upon was that "they called him a liar". Lord Williams told the jury and Mr Justice French that Mr Reynolds believed the article had "damaged his reputation, attacked his good name, upset the peace and tranquillity of his mind and wounded his heart".
After briefly outlining Mr Reynolds's career, Lord Williams described in detail the events of November 1994.
Lord Williams stated that the paper claims Mr Reynolds lied to the Dail when he defended the appointment of the then Attorney General, Mr Harry Whelehan, to be President of the High Court, amid widespread criticism of Mr Whelehan's explanations over the delay in extraditing the paedophile priest, Father Brendan Smyth.
In a detailed memo to the former Taoiseach, Mr Whelehan explained that it was a complex case with no precedent. However, Lord Williams told the jury, the new Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, discovered the Duggan case, which was apparently similar and had been personally dealt with by Mr Whelehan.
Lord Williams said that although Mr Reynolds had asked Mr Fitzsimons to study two drafts of his speech on the issue before he delivered it to the Dail, "Eoghan Fitzsimons never said or wrote a word. Remember that if you would", he said.
After delivering his speech, Mr Reynolds returned home for "a bite to eat" but, Lord Williams said, at 9 p.m. that evening he was given Mr Fitzsimons's document about the Duggan case. This is the key to this whole unhappy saga.
"When they wrote that [article] do you think they knew that Mr Reynolds never got the appropriate information until 9 p.m. after he left the Dail and had his bite to eat? Did they ask? Not a single man, woman or donkey from the Sunday Times asked Mr Reynolds," he said.
Lord Williams pointed out to the jury that the Sunday Times's Irish edition had also printed an article on the same day by the same journalist about Mr Reynolds.
"The one in Ireland said, by and large, that it was all a mess. Over here they said he was a fibber. Over there they said it was a muddle. Someone somewhere is going to have to answer for that," he said.
The hearing was adjourned until today when Lord Williams will finish his opening speech. It is expected that Mr Reynolds will be called as the first witness.