One of the strangest phenomena to emerge in Irish life in recent times must be that of the "tribunal junkie". Haunting the environs of Dublin Castle by day, the junkie slinks into Mr Justice Flood's hall in the morning before repairing to Mr Justice Moriarty's forum in the afternoon. In quiet times, this breed has been known to descend on the Four Courts, but by early evening there is only one place it can be found - tucked up in bed with Vincent Browne and the re-enactments of the tribunals on his night-time RTE 1 radio programme.
There, over the past 18 months, the voices of actors Joe Taylor and Malcolm Douglas have brought to life the astonishing menagerie of villains and heroes that has given evidence at the tribunals. The lies, the prevarications, the confessions, the tussles between lawyers and judges and, most of all, the humour, have come through loud and clear thanks to the vocal dexterity of the two actors.
As a reporter covering the Flood tribunal, I've listened as Taylor and Douglas perfect their mimics of the star witnesses, polishing their accents to perfection and breathing life into the characters by reproducing their mannerisms. There's the tone of the wounded underdog, for example, in the hoarse croak of James "In the dock, am I?" Gogarty, and then there's the relentless exasperation in the voice of George Redmond, who still can't understand what he has done wrong.
The bad news for tribunal junkies is that Vincent Browne has moved to television and the future of his programme and its tribunal re-enactments is uncertain.
But there is good news too - not least the news that a new political party is being mooted that is likely to appeal to so many of those seething with anger at the evidence of corruption uncovered at the tribunals. More immediately, however, Taylor and Douglas are taking their tribunal performances to the stage.
Will We Get a Receipt for This??!!! - Will We F***!" - the title is awkward but instantly recognisable from Gogarty's evidence to the Flood tribunal - is a revue of the tribunal highlights, interspersed with humorous songs written by Taylor and sung by Susie Kennedy, with Gary Smythe on piano.
Taylor is a genial Sligoman with a twinkle in his eye and a preference for gentle humour, so anyone looking for angry satire or fulminations at the political establishment is likely to be disappointed. The 90minute show avoids the more embarrassing and personal moments in the tribunal, such as Frank Dunlop's near-collapse in the witness-box or Tom and Caroline Bailey's unique system of kitchen-table accounting, in favour of the lighter highlights.
It's probably as well that Taylor is not an angry man, given his treatment by RTE. He started with the RTE Players 20 years ago, but after only two years his job was axed. Ironically, this was a result of the cap on the station's revenue imposed by the then Minister for Communications, Ray Burke, the politician the Flood tribunal was set up to investigate.
Ever since, Taylor has survived precariously as a freelance, mixing acting assignments with comedy sketches on various RTE programmes. Douglas, meanwhile, has worked widely in Dublin theatre, as well as appearing in soaps and other TV dramas.
Even now, Taylor and Douglas are paid by the day - "a busman's wage," as Taylor puts it - for their re-enactments, hardly the kind of recognition they deserve for their contribution to the success of Browne's show. While virtually every other programme on Radio 1 has been shedding listeners, Browne saw his audience grow and confounded the pundits who said there was no market for serious late-night radio.
Yet last week when James Gogarty, the octogenarian witness-from-hell that became the Flood tribunal's first star, returned to the witness box, Taylor switched on the radio that evening to find that RTE was broadcasting a recording of a Shirley Bassey concert. "It was a rather bad attitude. It just filtered down to us that the show wasn't going on," he says.
This week Charlie Haughey is due to make his long-awaited appearance at the Moriarty tribunal, yet it seems the national broadcaster has no plans to use the two actors or revive Browne's programme under a different presenter. It's no wonder then that Taylor and Douglas opted to convert their new-found popularity into a different medium.
Taylor, of course, is the biggest tribunal junkie of all. He likens Flood to Coronation Street: "It's a long-running soap where you get to know all the characters over time. Moriarty has less humour, but more amnesia, and it's fascinating the way witnesses avoid answering questions; it's more like This is Your Life - half the time you don't know who they're going to make the presentation to."
Dublin theatre has probably never seen such a show - a comedy revue based on legal transcripts. For a start, the actors will be reading their scripts and there will be no ad-libbing. This is for legal reasons: the tribunals are hotbeds of legal intrigue and conflicting agenda and, as every journalist knows, the dangers of getting even a word wrong can be immense.
The show must also be careful not to antagonise the tribunals, though it's a fair bet that Messrs Justice Flood and Moriarty will not be taking front-row seats for the first night on Monday.
The biggest challenge will be to carry the show visually. Taylor - whose real voice is soft, high-pitched, even boyish - admits it will be "quite static - anyone who wants to see clowns and unicyclists and juggling will be disappointed". Both men, though, are experienced actors, no strangers to treading the boards, and they have spent long enough in Dublin Castle to know intimately the gestures and mannerisms of the leading witnesses and lawyers. Taylor's chameleon voice generally plays the part of the witnesses, from reedy pensioners such as Gogarty or Batt O'Shea to the gruffer, broader tones of the likes of Ben Dunne. Douglas plays a succession of plummy-voice lawyers sent out to bat against the stars in the witness-box.
The show is running, initially, for two weeks, and may travel if the formula proves successful. Even if it does, though, it's unlikely to last as long as the Flood tribunal, heading for its third birthday next November.
Will We Get A Receipt For This? . . . Will We F***!!!? - A Revue Of The Tribunals runs at HQ at the Hot Press Hall Of Fame, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, for two weeks from Monday. Tickets £16.50.