Moriarty tribunal to resume public hearings

The Moriarty tribunal is to resume public hearings on Wednesday after a break of almost three months.

The tribunal has been inquiring into the 1995 competition for a second mobile-phone licence since November 2001 and last sat for a public hearing on April 2nd. It is likely to break again soon for the summer.

The resumed hearings may include evidence concerning property transactions in England in which ex-Fine Gael TD Mr Michael Lowry was involved.

The tribunal has heard evidence about a number of property transactions in which Mr Lowry and Mr Aidan Phelan, a former accountant of Esat founder Mr Denis O'Brien, were involved.

It has also heard evidence about the £4 million purchase of the Doncaster Rovers grounds by an Isle of Man trust which Mr O'Brien has said was acting for him and his family.

The same English solicitor, Mr Christopher Vaughan, acted in all the transactions. Last year, The Irish Times disclosed that Mr Vaughan had written a letter concerning the Doncaster deal while of the view that Mr Lowry was in some way involved.

He has since said to The Irish Times and, by way of correspondence, to the tribunal, that he was under a misapprehension at the time.

However, he has refused to come to Dublin to give evidence about the Doncaster deal and the other property transactions.

It is understood the tribunal has made further inquiries concerning the property deals. It has held private meetings with two men associated with the company that formerly owned the Doncaster grounds, Mr Ken Richardson and Mr Mark Weaver. However, it is not thought that they are going to give evidence.

Mr Vaughan told The Irish Times yesterday that he had not heard from the tribunal in almost a year.

Two of the civil servants who were involved in assessing the bids for the licence and who have already given evidence, Mr Martin Brennan and Mr Fintan Towey, are expected back to answer questions on a number of matters that have emerged since they left the witness box.

Further evidence is also expected from Mr Tony Boyle, a major shareholder in Sigma Wireless, one of the members of the Persona consortium which came second to Esat Digifone in the 1995 competition.

Legal representatives of Persona have been monitoring the tribunal. The consortium has served notice on the State that it intends to pursue it for damages concerning the running of the 1995 competition. Mr Lowry and Mr O'Brien are expected to give further evidence prior to the conclusion of the inquiry.

While it had been expected that the hearings concerning the 1995 competition might have been completed by the end of this month, the unexpected three months of private inquiries since Easter means the hearings may not conclude until some time close to Christmas.

The eventual cost of the inquiry into the 1995 competition is likely to be in excess of €50 million.

Persona group now owned by Sigma Wireless: page 16