Tánaiste comments on O’Brien invite to diaspora forum

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has commented on the invitation issued by Government to businessman Denis O’Brien to attend the next economic summit for the Irish diaspora.

The Labour Party leader said all members of the Global Irish Network were invited to the Global Irish Economic Forum which will be held in Dublin Castle on October 4th and 5th. The telecoms billionaire is one of 440 invitees.

“All of the members of the global Irish network are invited to attend the forum. Mr O’Brien has been a member of the global Irish network since 2009. We don’t make any distinction between any of the members of the global Irish network and an invitation was issued to all of them without exception,” Mr Gilmore said.

He was speaking after the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs progress report in Dublin today.

While October 3rd had been mentioned as tentative date for the referendum to scrap the Seanad, there is speculation in political circles that polling day might now be in late September to avoid the count taking place on the same day as the forum.

The purpose of the event is to bring together Irish people active in international business to work on ideas to boost the domestic economy.

Mr O’Brien’s attendance at the last forum, in 2011, drew a protest from one of his former associates over the findings of the Moriarty tribunal.

However, the Coalition’s position is that all previous participants should be asked to attend again. “Denis O’Brien is invited to the Global Irish Economic Forum,” said a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Moriarty inquiry found in 2011 that then minister for communications Michael Lowry “secured the winning” of the 1995 mobile phone licence for Mr O’Brien’s company Esat Digifone. The tribunal also found Mr O’Brien made two payments to Mr Lowry in 1996 and 1999 totalling £500,000 and backed a loan of stg£420,000 to Mr Lowry in 1999.

Mr O’Brien’s former associate Barry Maloney later wrote to Mr Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore to say he would not attend the 2011 forum because he considered Mr O’Brien’s presence would send the wrong signal in light of the tribunal report.