Former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor was driven from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin yesterday at 12.03 p.m. after completing a 28-day sentence.
He was driven through the prison gates, past a small media presence, in a red Mitsubishi jeep with his driver, Mr Odhran O'Brien, at the wheel. Mr Lawlor sat in the back, hidden by tinted glass.
A few moments earlier he was escorted in the sunshine under an umbrella, which hid him from photographer's lenses, the few yards from a prison door to the jeep.
Mr Lawlor has now served six weeks in jail of a three-month sentence for contempt of court, for failing to provide the Flood tribunal with relevant information. He served a week in January 2001 and another week last January. He has also been fined a total €32,000.
For the past 28 days Mr Lawlor has been in Mountjoy prison's B wing, in a single cell in its basement. He has spent most of that time alone but has had access to radio and TV, as well as to newspapers.
He has been allowed one 15-minute visit a day and has also had unlimited access to his legal team, whether through visits or by phone.
He was not being allowed access to a computer.
It is believed he spent most of the past four weeks preparing documents for the Flood tribunal. He must supply it will all the information he has on his financial affairs by April 9th or face further imprisonment.
Meanwhile, it is expected that later this week he will announce whether he intends standing as an Independent in the general election. A recent opinion poll in the Dublin Midwest constituency, where he would stand, gave him just 3 per cent of the vote.
