In the Sunday Business Post case, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Mahon Tribunal cannot designate information given to it by respondents and circulated privately as "confidential", and cannot obtain Court Orders preventing those who have illicitly obtained such personal information from publishing it. Justice Nial Fennely, giving the judgement of the Court, said: "The right of a free press to communicate information without obstruction or restraint is intrinsic to a free society." Supporting this position were Chief Justice John Murray and Justice Susan Denham (daughter of a former Editor of the Irish Times, Douglas Gageby).
A dissenting judgement was given by Justice Hugh Geoghegan, supported by Justice Adrian Hardiman.
It is generally thought that the principle laid down in the Sunday Business Post case will be applied to the benefit of Geraldine Kennedy, Editor of the Irish Times, and journalist, Colm Keena, in a further case being brought by the Mahon Tribunal.
The Sunday Business Post ruling makes it impossible for the current Tribunals to go on functioning, as personal information, submitted in confidence, has no legal protection. It is wholly unreasonable to expect those innocent in law submit themselves to such public scrutiny. Surely the Chairmen of these Tribunals have no option now, but to resign?
The 'corruption' Tribunals were devised as an anti-Fianna Fail tactic by the Progressive Democrats. The basic flaw in their functioning has been that presiding Judges, and Tribunal agents, have brought adversarial attitudes to what should be an inquisitorial system, aiming to establish objective truth. Even worse, the lower standards of proof which prevails in civil cases is applied to criminal matters in the Tribunal process. It is time to put a stop to this travesty of justice.

Curiously, prosecution "slippage" had Crown lawyers saying that their case would not be ready until the middle of May (after the power-sharing Executive has come into existence). Only one defendant remains accused of the robbery of 20th December 2004, Christopher Ward. He has been remanded on continuing bail to 28th March (15.3.07 IN).
In the South, Don Bullman, a Cork chef, was given 4 years' prison for IRA membership. He was widely reported as having money connected with the robbery in his possession in a Daz box. But there was not the evidence to link Bullman with the robbery. The judge pointed out that "Bullman was not charged in relation to possession of the money and there was no evidence of the money's origin or of any robbery" (21.2.07 IT). Incidentally, no further action seems to be contemplated against Phil Flynn, who has had his reputation ruined by the media on police incitement, egged on by Minister for Justice McDowell.