Moriarty to inquire if O'Brien paid Lowry £100,000

The Moriarty tribunal today began an investigation to discover whether Mr Denis O’Brien paid Mr Michael Lowry £100,000 and whether any decision was made in return for such a payment.

Mr O' Brien, former chief executive of Esat Digifone,denied ever paying £100,000 to Mr Lowry or that he paid a similar sum to another party.

In a statement this evening, the former Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry, also denied ever receiving money from Mr O’Brien.

Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Jerry Healy SC, told the tribunal this afternoon a significant amount of new information has been made available from Esat Digifone, Telenor and Mr O’Brien.

This information related to an allegation of two £100,000 payments made by Mr O’Brien which was"exercising the minds of the Esat Digifone Board in 1997, then considering an IPO [Initial Public Offer]".

Reading a new opening statement, Mr Healy said a former chief executive of Esat Digifone Mr Barry Moloney had informed it of an alleged conversation in 1996 during which Mr O’Brien claimed to have made two £100,000 payments - one to MrLowry and a second to an unnamed person.

Mr Moloney says the conversation took place in Mr O'Brien’s office in October of 1996.

Mr Maloney’s response was "I don’t want to know". Mr Maloney became concerned in October 1997 that he had obligations to disclose this conversation to the Esat Digifone board in light of the company’s liability ahead of its proposed IPO.

He claims he pleaded with Mr O’Brien on October 13th and subsequent dates to postphone the IPO until after the Moriarty tribunal had completed its work.

The tribunal also heard of meetings conducted by the Esat Telecom board’s legal advisers to investigate the exact nature of the conversation after Mr Maloney brought it to their attention.

Mr O’Brien issued a statement to this investigation claiming the conversation occurred while running with Mr Maloney in Wicklow in October 1996. Mr O’Brien said he was trying to compel Mr Maloney to pay invoices from consultants and lobbyists, including Mr P.J. Mara, involved in the successful bid for a second mobile licence.

While running, Mr O’Brien boasted, falsely: "If you think you have problems I have already paid £200,000". This was an act of bravado between two friends who had known each other 20 years, said Mr O’Brien. He added when they talked, fact mixed with reality.

In a further conversation with Esat’s legal team, Mr O’Brien admitted he had decided to give funds to Mr Lowry, earmarked £100,000 and lodged it in Woodchester Bank.

However, Mr O’Brien’s statement said: "Thank God I saw sense and left it where it was". He added no promises or assurances were ever sought from or given by the minister (Mr Lowry).

Esat’s legal team investigated Mr O’Brien’s bank accounts for the movement of sums over £25,000 and the movement of smaller amounts of money to the same recipient and found there were no £100,000 transactions.

Mr Healy said these matters would be investigated by the tribunal but added Esat’s investigation had found absolutely no sign of wrong-doing.

Mr Healy said the tribunal now had information suggesting Mr Aidan Phelan, Mr O'Brien's accountant, appeared to have been involved in the transfer of £100,000 and £50,000 from an account owned by Mr O'Brien to Mr David Austin, the late former Fine Gael fundraiser. These payments then allegedly appeared in the accounts of Mr Lowry.

At the end of today’s hearing Mr Justice Moriarty cautioned against inference or speculation and warned against drawing conclusions at this stage.

The tribunal resumes at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow when Mr O’Brien is expected to resume giving evidence.