Lawlor's appeal against further prison sentence to begin today

Mr Liam Lawlor's appeal against a further term of imprisonment on charges of contempt of court begins in the Supreme Court today.

The Dublin West TD was sentenced to one week in jail and fined £5,000 last July after the High Court ruled for a second time that he had failed to co-operate fully with the Flood tribunal.

Last January, Mr Lawlor spent one week in Mountjoy Jail and was fined £10,000 for failing to co-operate with the tribunal.

He also incurred massive legal costs, estimated at over £200,000.

His legal team is expected to argue that he had gone to great lengths to comply with the tribunal's order, having sworn 66 further affidavits of discovery containing 25,000 documents.

Mr Lawlor told the Supreme Court in August that any non-compliance with the tribunal's latest order was "technical" and concerned only two documents which he allegedly gave to the businessman, Mr Larry Goodman.

The documents relate to the purchase of lands near Mr Lawlor's home in Lucan in 1987.

His appeal coincides with the current High Court libel case brought by Fianna Fβil national organiser, Mr Sean Sherwin, against the Sunday Independent, in which the TD has featured prominently.

The developer Mr Tom Gilmartin, who is appearing as a witness in the case, last week claimed the TD had demanded £100,000 for his services in relation to the rezoning of the Quarryvale site Mr Gilmartin was developing in west Dublin.

He also described Mr Lawlor as a "hustler".

Mr Gilmartin's evidence in this case resumes tomorrow.

Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed a separate appeal by Mr Lawlor.

In that case, Mr Lawlor had claimed a 20 per cent stake in a multi-million pound joint venture to develop lands in west Dublin.

Mr Lawlor had brought the case against a property developer, Mr Seamus Ross, of Menolly Homes.