Shatter Condemns Criticisms Of Judiciary In Wake Of Moriarty Tribunal

international | crime and justice | other press Friday March 25, 2011 23:55 by Atlantis - none

Shatter condemns criticisms of judiciary in wake of tribunal

The Justice Minister Alan Shatter has hit out at what he has called "intemperate attacks" on the judiciary. Alan Shatter's released a statement this evening, condemning a number of comments made in the wake of the Moriarty report published earlier this week, which he said were "intended to bring the judiciary into disrepute and to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice." Minister Shatter said the statements which he claimed " endanger public confidence" in the judiciary and the courts, are "entirely unacceptable and are to be deplored".

Both former Minister Michael Lowry and Businessman Denis O'Brien have been critical of Mr. Justice Michael Moriarty in the wake of the report.

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/shatter-con...15dby

Denis O'Brien won mobile phone licence with political assistance – judgeMinister of communications Michael Lowry helped O'Brien secure licence for Esat Digifone in 1995, says tribunal report

Share Lisa O'Carroll guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 March 2011 19.19 GMT Article history
Denis O'Brien leaves his Esat office in Dublin on Tuesday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

One of Ireland's best known businessmen, telecoms-to-media millionaire Denis O'Brien, has been accused of winning one of the country's lucrative mobile phone licences through assistance from a leading politician.

A sensational report, which is getting wall-to-wall coverage after it was released in Ireland today, has found that was "beyond doubt" that the then minister of communications Michael Lowry had helped O'Brien secure the mobile phone licence for his Esat Digifone company.

The tribunal report by Justice Michael Moriarty follows a 14-year inquiry into Lowry's activities as a minister and has sparked a war of words with the businessman who accused the judge of ignoring evidence and drawing "fundamentally flawed" conclusions.

At the centre of the report are accusations that Lowry side-stepped normal tendering procedures and gave substantive information to leading candidates for the licence which was awarded in 1995.

It says Lowry had an "insidious and pervasive influence" on the process, displayed "an appreciable interest" in the process and had "irregular interactions with interested parties at its most sensitive stages".

It is alleged that Lowry discussed the bid with the media tycoon in Hartigans, one of O'Brien's favourite pubs, after an All Ireland football final in Croke Park, something both men have denied occurred.

O'Brien went on to become of Ireland's wealthiest businessman – he sold his mobile phone business in Ireland but has operations in 34 countries with substantial phone interests in the Caribbean along with stakes in some of the largest Irish media operations including Independent News & Media.

The report found that the former minister had bypassed his cabinet colleagues and "ultimately brought a guillotine down" on the work of a project group overseeing the competition. Justice Moriarty concluded that Lowry had "thereby not only influenced, but delivered, the result", when Esat secured the country's mobile phone licence.

The tribunal also investigated various political donations made by O'Brien or associates and associate companies at the time of the licence award. It found that a payment of Ir£147,000 made by O'Brien – through an associate of both men – was made via a series of offshore accounts to Lowry's Isle of Man Irish Nationwide account in what the report described as a "clandestine" manner.

The report is also critical of a political donation made to Fine Gael of $50,000 by Esat in the immediate aftermath of the awarding of the licence to O'Brien. The December 1995 donation was "ostensibly" made towards a Fine Gael fundraising dinner promoted by the late businessman David Austin, who was an associate of Lowry and Denis O'Brien, and held in New York a month earlier. The donation was made by Esat's Norwegian partners, Telenor, but was later reimbursed by O'Brien's company, Esat.

O'Brien, who has always been extremely critical of the tribunal, immediately went on the offensive. He said the report was "fundamentally flawed" and that he had never given any money to Lowry "in his capacity as a government minister, as a public representative or as a private citizen".

He said the Irish judiciary should now investigate "Mr Justice Moriarty and the tribunal legal team for the manner in which they conducted themselves".

He went on to accuse Judge Moriarty of ignoring evidence from a number of sources such as the department of communications, the department of finance, 17 civil servants, five government ministers, two barristers from the Office of the Attorney General and one former Taoiseach.

He hinted that he may instigate legal proceedings saying it was "incumbent on the judiciary to investigate the conduct of Mr Justice Moriarty and the tribunal legal team for the manner in which they conducted themselves" during the inquiry.