Solicitors for Mr James Gogarty, the man who gave money to the former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, have not been asked to apply for representation for Mr Gogarty at today's sitting of the planning tribunal.
The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters will sit at 9 a.m. in Dublin Castle to hear applications for legal representation from the parties involved.
Mr Kevin Neary, of Newry solicitors Donnelly Neary and Donnelly, said yesterday he would be attending the hearing out of interest.
"We certainly have no instructions to apply for representation on his [Mr Gogarty's] behalf. We have no formal instructions at this stage."
Mr Neary said he also would not be seeking representation for the firm at this stage.
The tribunal is the result of allegations made by Mr Gogarty about money paid to Mr Burke in 1989. Mr Burke told the Dail in September that he had been given a political donation of £30,000 by Mr Gogarty, a former employee of a building firm, Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers (JMSE).
He denied that the money was linked to any request for rezoning of JMSE-owned land. Mr Burke resigned as minister and as a TD in October.
The tribunal terms of reference allow for discovery of "relevant documents, files and papers," in the possession of Mr Gogarty, a land developer, Mr Michael Bailey, and Donnelly Neary Donnelly.
Mr Neary has written to the tribunal team, chaired by Mr Justice Flood, asking for clarification.
"We have simply asked them to clarify what `documents relevant to the terms of the tribunal' actually means." Mr Neary said some documents would be subject to solicitor-client privilege as the firm acts for Mr Gogarty.
In July 1995 the firm ran an advertisement in The Irish Times for a client offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in corrupt land rezoning. Within a month more than 30 people had contacted the solicitors' firm, among them Mr Gogarty.
In September 1997 Magill magazine published extracts from a letter written by Mr Michael Bailey of Bovale Construction to Mr Gogarty of JMSE offering to "procure" planning permission for 726 acres of JMSE land in return for a 50 per cent share in the lands.
A dispute over legal fees delayed the first interim report from the tribunal. Fees were agreed last month at £1,450 a day for sitting days and £1,350 for nonsitting days.
