No suggestion of impropriety by Reynolds, says chairman

There was no suggestion of any impropriety by former Taoiseach Mr Albert Reynolds in relation to the 1995 second mobile phone licence competition, the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Moriarty, said.

The tribunal was shown an entry in the journal of Mr John Bruton in October 1995 during a meeting with Mr Michael Lowry which read: "Albert promised it to Motorola." The entry came during a discussion over the proposal that Esat Digifone should be announced as the winner.

Mr Martin Brennan, the civil servant who chaired the team which selected the winner, said he had seen a letter in 1994 from the then president of Motorola to Mr Reynolds.

He said the letter seemed to him to be a routine letter of six to seven lines written in the wake of Mr Reynolds visiting Washington for St Patrick's Day.

The president had expressed his pleasure at meeting Mr Reynolds again and finished by saying "don't forget our discussion re the GSM licence".

Mr Brennan said copies of the letter had been sent from the Taoiseach's department to the Department of Communications and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. "I attach no particular importance to it," Mr Brennan said.