LAST UPDATE | 9 Jan

A FILE HAS been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) relating to the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal – the payments to politicians inquiry.

It’s 14 years since the tribunal findings were first referred to gardaí for a review which led to a criminal investigation.

In a statement, gardaí said a file has been forwarded to the DPP and “no further information is currently available”.

The Tribunal was established in 1997 to examine payments to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and to Michael Lowry, a former Fine Gael Minister for Communications and current independent TD for Tipperary North.

Lowry was interviewed by gardaí investigating matters related to the Tribunal last August, as first reported by The Journal. 

Lowry is a member of the Rural Independent Group, which is involved in government formation negotiations with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Criminal Assets Bureau’s investigation has been ongoing for several years. Previously, a 2017 Garda file did not progress to the point of a direction for prosecution by the DPP.

Officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, it took 14 years to find that Lowry had an “insidious and pervasive” influence over the awarding of Ireland’s second mobile phone licence in the 1990s to Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone company.

The 2011 Tribunal report found that it was “beyond doubt” that Lowry gave “substantive information” to O’Brien and that this data was “of significant value and assistance to him in securing the licence”.

It also found that O’Brien had made two secret payments to Lowry in 1996 and 1999 which amounted to £500,000 and supported a loan of £420,000 given to Lowry in 1999.

The Tribunal found that the O’Brien payments were “demonstrably referable to the acts and conduct of Mr Lowry” during the competition process which benefited Esat Digifone.
The payments were routed through a series of offshore bank accounts – travelling from the Isle of Man to Jersey and back to the Isle of Man to an account in Lowry’s name.

Denis O’Brien has rejected the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal and claimed it was based on mere “opinions” and was not findings of evidence, fact or law.

Lowry for his part alleged that the tribunal’s report was “factually wrong and deliberately misleading”.

In a statement this evening, Lowry said that he received a request for assistance from An Garda Síochána last year.

“I freely, voluntarily and willingly met with them on one occasion and was fully cooperative,” said Lowry.

“This was the only engagement or correspondence I had with the gardaí over the fourteen years since the report was published.”

Lowry added: “At no point, on that occasion or since, was it suggested that there were or are any charges being contemplated against me.

“I am fully confident that there is no basis for any liability attaching to me.”

Lowry said that all involved have “steadfastly maintained that there was no wrongdoing or impropriety attached to the award of the GSM licence, some 29 years ago”.

“Furthermore, the State, through the Chief State Solicitor’s office, have consistently and vigorously defended the award of the licence in long drawn out speculative civil cases taken by two of the unsuccessful applicants,” said Lowry.