O’Brien wins right to defend licence award

Businessman Denis O’Brien has succeeded in his attempt to join the State as a defendant in the case taken by Persona over the awarding of the mobile phone licence to Esat.

Persona launched legal proceedings against the Government following the conclusion of the Moriarty Tribunal.

The Persona consortium, which is headed by businessman, Tony Boyle, had been one of the unsuccessful applicants for the second GSM phone licence in 1996.