The money trail linking the former Minister for Communications, Mr Michael Lowry, and the former chairman of Esat Mr Denis O’Brien, suggested by lawyers for the Moriarty Tribunal yesterday was disputed by Mr Lowry today.
He said it was "impossible" that Mr O’Brien had set in train a sequence of money transferals that concluded in Mr Lowry receiving £147,000. Mr Lowry has consistently claimed the money was paid by former Fine Gael fundraiser Mr David Austin in respect of what Mr Lowry says was a loan to pay for the refurbishment of a house he had bought in Blackrock.
He told the tribunal that a statement of a bank account held by Mr Austin produced yesterday indicated the money left the account controlled by Mr O’Brien’s in July 1996. He said the house that was to be refurbished was bought in September of the same year and therefore undermined the sequence of events as suggested Tribunal lawyer Mr Jerry Healy SC.
Mr Lowry also pointed out that according to statement, after the £147,000 was repaid, it was retained by Mr Austin and lodged in a Dublin bank account.
The start of today’s proceedings was delayed when solicitors for Mr Lowry produced new evidence.
An envelope marked "private and confidential" with Mr Lowry’s name on it and a copy of the handwritten agreement covering the payment Mr Austin made to Mr Lowry were produced. The former Fine Gael TD said the documents were uncovered at his accountants last night.
Yesterday, Mr Lowry was unclear about the circumstances surrounding the signing of the payments and was unable to account for the late Mr Austin not having a record of the transaction.
Today he said he had checked his ministerial diary last night and discovered he had been at a function at a Blackrock car dealership on the same date that appears on the document. He said he could now recall that after the function he went to Mr Austin’s Salthill, Co Dublin apartment where he was given he saw the document.
When questioned about whether he signed and took a copy of the document by Tribunal lawyer Mr Jerry Healy SC, Mr Lowry was still unsure. He said the original of the document had been delivered at a later date to his accountants in Foxrock but that he thought but could not confirm the document was contained in the envelope produced in evidence today.