Accountant and broker form O'Brien firm board

Two Dubliners form the board of the Denis O'Brien firm that owns the leaseof Doncaster grounds, writes Colm Keena

The board of the English company which Mr Denis O'Brien has told the Moriarty Tribunal he owns and which holds the lease on the grounds used by Doncaster Rovers, is now made up of a Dublin accountant and a Dublin stockbroker.

Last month The Irish Times revealed that in September 1998, when the company was changing hands, English solicitor Mr Christopher Vaughan wrote a letter to Mr Michael Lowry while of the view that he, Mr Lowry, was involved in the transaction.

Mr Vaughan has said it later emerged that Mr Lowry was not involved. A spokeswoman for Mr O'Brien has said Mr O'Brien bought the shares in Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd in his own right and that this will be shown to the tribunal.

Mr O'Brien's legal team contacted the tribunal on the matter last month. His former accountant, Mr Aidan Phelan, who managed the transaction, resigned as a director of Doncaster Rovers Football Club on October 31st, 2002. Mr Vaughan, the solicitor with an address in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, resigned as director and company secretary on the same date.

A Dublin stockbroker, Mr David Sykes, from Monkstown, Co Dublin, joined the board on October 16th, 2002 as did Mr John Ryall, an accountant with an address in Stillorgan, Co Dublin.

Companies House records in the UK indicate these two men now form the board of the company.

The price paid for the shares in the company was about £4 million sterling (€6 million) and the sale was completed in summer/autumn 1998.

An Isle of Man company, Westferry, was used for the purchase and the shares were bought from another Isle of Man company, Dinard Trading, which is believed to be owned by English businessman Mr Ken Richardson.

At the time of the purchase it was envisaged that a new stadium could be built for the Doncaster Rovers team and the site of the grounds used by the team, which are in a city centre location, would be used for a commercial development. Little progress in relation to this has been made to date.

The letter from Mr Vaughan to Mr Lowry, which has been seen by The Irish Times, referred to a £120,000 sterling payment being made to Mr Paul May in relation to the Doncaster deal.

Mr May is a businessman with an address in Towcester, Northamptonshire, according to records in Companies House. He is a former director of Gameplan International, a company mentioned in Mr Vaughan's letter and which was connected to the Doncaster deal.

The Doncaster deal is understood to have originated by way of Mr Kevin Phelan, a Northern Ireland businessman who locates sites in the UK which he believes might be of interest to investors from the Republic.

Mr Kevin Phelan is also a director of Gameplan and is thought to be the main force behind the company. Mr May resigned from the board of Gameplan on May 21st, 1999.

Mr Vaughan joined the company as director and secretary on August 17th, 1998 and resigned on February 7th, 2000.

Companies House records show that Mr May is or has been a director of a large number of companies in the UK, including companies involved in the cashing of cheques, the fitness and leisure business, and electrical services companies.

He is variously described in the files as an electrical contractor and company director. Mr May is a director of Cash a Cheque Holdings Great Britain plc, having been appointed to the board on October 14th, 1997.

Mr Vaughan was appointed to the board of the company on the same date and was appointed company secretary.

He resigned from both positions six days later, on October 20th, 1997. He was replaced as secretary by a Mr Ian Salkeld, of Wanstead, London.

Mr May, Mr Vaughan, Mr Aidan Phelan and Ms Helen Malone have all served as directors of a UK company, Draftclip.

Mr May resigned from the company on September 24th, 1998, co-incidentally the date the letter was sent by Mr Vaughan to Mr Lowry. Mr Aidan Phelan and Ms Malone joined the board on the same date. Mr Vaughan joined the board a month earlier.

It is still a live company on the UK companies register.

Mr Vaughan was involved in at least four UK property transactions in the late 1990s which involved Mr Aidan Phelan and Mr Kevin Phelan. Mr O'Brien has said that regarding two of these, the Doncaster transaction and a small office building in Luton, he was the beneficial owner.

In relation to the other two, in Cheadle and Mansfield, Mr Lowry was beneficially involved along with Mr Aidan Phelan, according to both men.

Mr O'Brien has said he was not involved in either of these two transactions and that he did not know of them at the time.

The tribunal is investigating the Cheadle and Mansfield transactions to establish whether they constituted a payment by Mr O'Brien to Mr Lowry. It is now expected to hear further evidence on the Doncaster deal.