FORMER CHIEF executive of Esat Barry Maloney has written to the Taoiseach and Tánaiste saying he is no longer willing to take part in the Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin this weekend because his former business associate Denis O’Brien is attending.
Mr Maloney, now a partner with London-based Balderton Capital, was invited to participate in the event, the second summit for Irish global business leaders, a follow-up to the first event in Farmleigh.
However, in letters sent to Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore, Mr Maloney said he would not attend this event, given that Mr O’Brien would be a participant, despite the severe criticisms made of him by the Moriarty tribunal in its final report.
The criticisms relate to the competition to award the second mobile phone licence in 1996, which was won by a consortium led by Mr O’Brien. Mr Maloney, a former colleague of Mr O’Brien at Esat, gave evidence to the tribunal that in or around September or October 1996 he had a discussion with Mr O’Brien concerning payments that Mr Maloney, as CEO of Esat Digifone, was obliged to sanction.
When Mr Maloney commented on the lack of paperwork to enable him to process payments, Mr O’Brien remarked that he himself had to make two payments of £100,000, one of which was to then Fine Gael minister, now Independent TD, Michael Lowry.
Mr O’Brien’s rebuttal to Mr Maloney’s evidence was that he was joking when he referred to the alleged payment made to Mr Lowry. In evidence, both men differed on where the conversation took place. Mr O’Brien said it happened when they were running in Co Wicklow. Mr Maloney said the conversation happened in a formal office setting.
Mr O’Brien and Mr Maloney subsequently parted company as a result of disagreements over business and strategy. They have not communicated with each other for years.
Mr Maloney and Mr O’Brien both participated in the first global forum organised by the then Fianna Fáil-Green Party government in Farmleigh in the autumn of 2009.
The correspondence from Mr Maloney to Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore will place the Government’s response to the Moriarty tribunal under fresh scrutiny. Both said at the time of its publication that its findings and its recommendations would be acted upon quickly, and that the response of the new Coalition to the report would be markedly different from its predecessor.
The Taoiseach’s spokesman said a comprehensive report had been drawn up within six weeks and that actions were being taken on foot of the report. He said Mr Kenny would be making no comment on the letter.
Mr Gilmore’s spokeswoman said he would be making no comment on the letter nor of its criticism of Mr O’Brien’s attendance at the event.
However, a senior Government source expressed confidence in Mr O’Brien, who was involved in many important Irish businesses and charities and had an important contribution to make to the forum.
Mr O’Brien, who was returning to Ireland from the US yesterday, was not available for comment last night, said a spokesman. Mr Maloney also made no comment.