Former taoiseach Brian Cowen has picked up his first gig in the private sector after Denis O’Brien appointed him as a director of Topaz Energy.

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.

The businessman Declan Ganley could be exposed to a bill running into millions of euro if he loses in his legal action against the State and Denis O’Brien over the awarding of the second mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone.

Businessman Declan Ganley’s ability to pay the costs of a legal action over the issuing of the State’s second mobile phone licence means two companies associated with him do not need to put up money in advance in case they lose the action, a High Court judge ruled.

Lawyers for Denis O’Brien are looking for security of costs ahead of a High Court battle over the awarding of the second mobile phone license to Esat in the 1990s.

Pre-tax losses at Irish software firm, Openet last year narrowed to €2.4m after revenues jumped 11% to €97.9m.

WATCH them riding on, the three musketeers, Alan Shatter, James Reilly and Phil Hogan!

Michael Lowry has long had difficulty in aligning himself with what most people accept as reality.

Michael Lowry’s land holding in Wigan has shed light on his contacts with some of his longstanding associates in north Tipperary and the horse racing industry.

Bruff-based firm KBO is one of a small number of companies licensed to provide high-speed satellite broadband in Ireland. Now achieving a turnover of €4m, the company looks set to grow this to €10m by 2017, writes Trish Dromey

As communications become more internationalised, personal and unfettered it may seem anachronistic to suggest we need to pay more attention to our domestic media, who owns and controls it.

The defeated mobile phone licence bidders may not get the payout they expect, writes investigative correspondent Conor Ryan

The Government will fight any efforts to claim damages by two unsuccessful bidders for the lucrative mobile phone licence awarded to Denis O’Brien’s Esat.

The Supreme Court has cleared two unsuccessful bidders for the State’s second mobile phone licence to proceed with a legal challenge to the manner in which the licence was allocated in 1995 to Esat.

Seventeen years after it was awarded, the second mobile phone licence, the most lucrative ever awarded by the State, is still embroiled in controversy, as competitors for the licence get their day in court, writes Michael Clifford

ONE is leader of the Blueshirts, the other is leader of a bunch of blue blobs, but it seems that Papa Smurf has a stronger moral compass than Enda Kenny and Co.

Billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien should not be invited to future government-sponsored economic fora, Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton has said.

Dermot Desmond yesterday failed in his bid to have decisions of the High and Supreme Court over the conduct of the Moriarty Tribunal set aside.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday told US business leaders the tough economic adjustments made by his government means Ireland now “represents a truly unique and exceptional opportunity for investment”.

A COMPANY backed by businessman Barry Maloney, who shunned the recent Global Irish Economic Forum because Denis O’Brien was attending, reported a surge in profits for last year.

DISGRACED deputy Michael Lowry brushed off the humiliation of a Dáil censure motion, insisting he may take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

MICHAEL LOWRY has said his conscience is “clear” and he will not apologise for something he did not do.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has confirmed that members of one of the consortia bidding for the second mobile phone licence attended a fund- raiser he hosted just days before the competition was decided.

FIANNA FÁIL is set to attempt to force disgraced Independent TD Michael Lowry from office by bringing a motion in the Dáil for him to resign.

AFTER 63 minutes and 10,913 self-pitying words, the air of corruption hanging over Michael Lowry had not lifted one inch.

A DEFIANT Michael Lowry refused to be forced from the Dáil as he launched a brazen attack on the “paranoia” of the Moriarty Tribunal.

ENDA KENNY is under intense pressure today to clear-up serious questions surrounding the donation of $50,000 to Fine Gael by the winners of the most lucrative licence awarded in the history of the state.

A NEWSPAPER columnist, who was a witness at the Moriarty Tribunal, has said she “had no choice” but to resign her position after a meeting with the paper’s editor.

ESAT founder Denis O’Brien has launched another stinging criticism of the Moriarty Tribunal.

Denis O’Brien doggedly pursued business and wealth, so he is unlikely to give up on his challenge to Moriarty’s findings, says Seán McCárthaigh

Sarah Carey has resigned as a columnist with the Irish Times.

AN anti-corruption body has asked the Director of Corporate Enforcement as well as foreign authorities to follow up on the damning findings of the Moriarty Tribunal.

DISGRACED deputy Michael Lowry was resisting growing calls for him to resign last night as the Government passed the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal to the DPP and the Garda Commissioner.

THE findings of the Moriarty Tribunal have been criticised by a retired senior civil servant for ignoring the sworn evidence of a large group of government officials.

A DEFIANT Michael Lowry vowed to face down any Garda investigation into his alleged interference with the Esat mobile phone licence and also revealed he would battle to recoup his huge legal bills.

THE curtain has at last come down on the Moriarty Tribunal. For 14 years, it has largely lived in the shadow of its livelier, more rambling but ultimately more loveable counterpart — the Mahon (formerly Flood) Tribunal.

TAXPAYERS could be facing multi-million euro compensation claims from losing bidders for the state’s second mobile phone licence after the Moriarty Tribunal found that former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry had helped Denis O’Brien’s Esat consortium win the lucrative competition.

CONTROVERSIAL businessman Denis O’Brien won Ireland’s lucrative second mobile phone licence because shamed former communications minister Michael Lowry meddled in the selection process.

FINE GAEL’S failure to disclose a secretive $50,000 donation it received from one of the partners in the winning consortium was “regrettable”, the Tribunal has said.

ENDA KENNY paid glowing tribute to Michael Lowry in 1996 after Mr Lowry had been forced to resign from government, saying he was “a man of the highest integrity and honour”.

An inquiry into payments to politicians has branded a rent deal linked to an Independent TD and businessman Ben Dunne as "profoundly corrupt".

Former Minister Michael Lowry is in court claiming comments by journalist Sam Smyth wrongly imply he is a thief and a corrupt politician.