Ghosts of another era fill Court 2 as the eerie silence of a bank holiday weekend pervades, writes PAUL CULLEN
LOOKING EVERY inch a man with addresses in four countries, businessman Jim Kennedy wore a dark suit and smart red tie for his first appearance yesterday in an Irish court.
The man gardaí have been trying to interview for eight years was a model of impassivity as his lawyer earned his crust arguing at length for his client’s release on bail.
Minutes earlier, gardaí had escorted the 63-year-old up to the court, where he was placed sitting in the dock, which is screened by a thick plate of glass.
His wife Antoinette sat in the pews nearby along with other family members.
The rest of the massive criminal courts complex had cleared for the bank holiday weekend but the lights were still blazing away in Court 2, where Judge David McHugh was deciding whether Mr Kennedy should get bail.
Garda Vincent Byrne told the court he had been trying to interview Mr Kennedy since 2002 but the pair only met last Tuesday, when the Criminal Asset Bureau’s case against Jackson Way Property began in the High Court.
By his own account, Mr Kennedy has been in Ireland for the past few weeks, but appears to reside in London or Gibraltar or Spain. Then there are his “connections” with Switzerland, the Canary Islands and the Isle of Man, all mentioned by his counsel, Luan Ó Braonain SC.
Not to mention his latest abode, Apartment 5, Floor 4 of the Four Seasons Hotel, not far from St Vincent’s hospital, where he spent two nights this week after complaining of being unwell during questioning by Cab officers.
His wife Antoinette, herself with an address in the Isle of Man, took out a 12-month lease on the Four Seasons pad last August, the court heard, but her husband’s overall preference was to live in London.
Pinning down Mr Kennedy’s nationality was as tricky as identifying his principal residence. He revoked his Irish citizenship in 2002 and took up a British passport. Then he held an Isle of Man passport and applied also for a passport in Gibraltar. “I have no knowledge whether he has any of these,” Garda Byrne said. He was unable to tell where Mr Kennedy was residing on a permanent basis.
In all, the one-time amusement arcade owner and publican faces 16 corruption-related charges, involving county councillors both living and dead. Four of those who figure in Mr Kennedy’s charges had earlier appeared in the court to face their own charges.
Here were ghosts from another era, whom reporters struggled to identify years after they had appeared at the planning tribunal on similar issues.
Former senator Don Lydon brought lawyers, as did former councillor Sean Gilbride, who cut a lonely figure at the back of the court.
Another former councillor, Colm McGrath, sat with his arms crossed in the middle of the court as his arresting gardaí relayed his “vehement rejection” of the charge he faces.
The three former councillors, along with sitting councillor Tony Fox, all got bail and vanished into the darkness outside as quickly as they had come. Mr Kennedy, however, was led down to the cells while his wife got her hands on the €30,000 cash in bail money to secure his liberty.