Foireann Gaeltachta The Journal a chuir an scéal seo ar fáil. Tá leagan as Gaeilge anseo.

THE MORIARTY  TRIBUNAL, which lasted for almost a decade-and-a-half and dominated headlines for much of that time, is to feature in a new two-part Irish language documentary which airs on RTÉ tonight.

Officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, it began in the late 1990s to look into the financial affairs of Charlie Haughey and Michael Lowry. 

It cost over €46 million and eventually – after 14 years – found that former Fine Gael minister Michael 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.

Lowry is currently still a sitting TD for Tipperary. He rejects the findings of the Tribunal, as does O’Brien.

According to Scannal (Scandal) presenter, Cormac Ó hEadhra, there are likely many younger people in Ireland who have little to no knowledge of the affair. 

The issue, however, did make a return to the headlines at the start of the year, after Micheál Martin was forced to defend his decision to accept Lowry’s support for the incoming government. 

Lowry, who remains a supporter of the government but did not take up any ministerial role, played a prominent part in negotiations for the Programme for Government. 

Speaking to reporters in January the incoming Taoiseach was asked how he could reconcile his acceptance of the Tipperary TD’s support with his strongly-worded statements following the publication of the Moriarty Tribunal report back in 2011.

“First of all, what I said back then stands,” Martin insisted. 

What was revealed in the Moriarty Tribunal was shocking and was wrong, and I condemned that at the time, still do.

He said however that he had an “overriding obligation” to form a government and that the people of Tipperary had elected Lowry at successive elections.  

A few days previously, Lowry himself had insisted to reporters that the media had been consumed with the issue of the Moriarty Tribunal throughout the coalition negotiations and had been attempting to undermine the mandate he’d been given by his constituents.

Ó hEadhra said the documentary would be examining what the findings of the tribunal meant for Irish public life – both at the time of their publication and today. 

The broadcaster said that it could be argued there was a lack of consistency between Martin’s speech calling for Lowry to consider his position as a member of the Dáil back in 2011 and his current stance. 

As well as teasing out the details of the tribunal, the documentary will also examine the the recent re-emergence of the controversy as the new coalition was formed. 

“When the report came out, Mícheál Martin, for example, was one of the people who stood up in the Dáil and all the parties, they said that Michael Lowry should resign.

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“But here we are years later again, and he, Michael Lowry, is central to the formation of the Government that we have now,” Ó hEadhra said. 

Along with the presenter, a group of journalists, experts and commentators will look back at what happened after the publication of Judge Moriarty’s final report and the consequences it has left for the country even today.

The producers of the programme have said that all the major players were invited to participate in the programmes.  Denis O’Brien was invited but did not participate. 

The producers said that a number of emails were sent to Michael Lowry’s Oireachtas email address but that there was no response. The Tipperary North TD told The Journal the first he heard of the programme was when he saw it advertised.

Look, that has been rehashed so many times on radio, television, papers, or whatever, it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s not something I’m interested in anymore.

He added that he had no intention of watching the programme. “Better things to be doing,” he said.

Ó hEadhra said he was confident it would be a fascinating watch for anyone tuning in. 

• The Moriarty episodes of Scannal air tonight and next Tuesday at 7pm on RTÉ One.  

 
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme