THE MORIARTY tribunal has found that former minister for communications Michael Lowry “secured the winning” of the 1995 mobile phone licence competition for Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone.
The marathon tribunal has also found that Mr O’Brien made two payments to Mr Lowry in 1996 and 1999 totalling approximately £500,000 and supported a loan of £420,000stg given to Mr Lowry in 1999.
In his 2,348-page report Mr Justice Michael Moriarty found that the payments from Mr O’Brien were “demonstrably referable to the acts and conduct of Mr Lowry” during the licence process, acts which benefited Esat Digifone.
The licence granted to Esat was one of the most sought-after commercial licences ever granted by an Irish government. It was the foundation for Mr O’Brien’s successful career in international telecoms.
The report said there had been repeated efforts to mislead and frustrate the tribunal and to conceal the links between Mr O’Brien and Mr Lowry, and this had contributed to the time the tribunal had taken.
The tribunal was established in 1997 to look into payments to the late Charles Haughey and to Mr Lowry, and is likely to cost in the region of a quarter of a billion euro when the final legal bills come in.
The report also finds that Mr Lowry, when minister, interfered in a rent arbitration process in an attempt to secure a benefit for the businessman Ben Dunne, who was making payments to Mr Lowry.
The intervention could have led to Mr Dunne getting an extra £340,000 per year in rent, at the expense of the exchequer. “What was contemplated and attempted on the part of Mr Dunne and Mr Lowry was profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking,” the judge said.
Mr Justice Moriarty said that in the light of this intervention, in March or April 1995, it was “unsurprising” Mr Lowry was also disposed to interfere in the mobile phone licence competition later that year.
Mr O’Brien said last night that he rejected the tribunal’s findings and stood over his evidence to the tribunal that he had not given “one red cent” to Mr Lowry. Asked in an RTÉ interview if he thought Mr Justice Moriarty was stitching him up, he replied: “Absolutely, from the very first day.”
He also claimed the rest of the judiciary were now protecting their colleague. “[He’s] one of their own. They’ve got it wrong and now he has to be protected.”
Mr Lowry accused Mr Justice Moriarty of issuing a report that was “factually wrong and deliberately misleading”. The TD added that it was simply the opinion of the tribunal chairman and had no basis in law.
A Garda spokesman said that because the tribunal report had only been published, it was impossible to say what action, if any, might be taken. However, it is understood Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan is likely to ask some of his senior officers to review the report with a view to identifying any criminal or corrupt matters that should be investigated, as has been the case when other tribunals have reported.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin pressed Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Dáil for a response to the report. He asked Mr Kenny to explain his own personal level of knowledge about the culture of fundraising in Fine Gael that existed at the time.
“Six members of the current Government sat around the cabinet table when that most valuable licence was awarded. Will the Taoiseach, in light of his earlier commitment, facilitate an opportunity to the House and to those Ministers to account for their role in that decision and their perspective on how that licence was awarded?”
Mr Kenny said that he had not had an opportunity to glance through the 2,000 pages of the report. “I do not want to say anything now because I have not read the report but, after 14 years, it deserves serious consideration.” He said a debate would be held next week.
