Oh, what a party. With mandatory dayglo orange wrist bands sporting the upbeat message “Have A Great Day!” and heavy police presence, the Fine Gael national conference had something of the feel of an illegal 1990’s rave about it — just without the light sticks and artificial stimulants.

LAST November on this page I compared independent TD (and former Fine Gael minister) Michael Lowry to Mario Balotelli, the petulant bad-boy of European football who once pulled up his shirt to reveal a t-shirt bearing the legend “why always me?”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused opposition requests to reconvene the Moriarty Tribunal to probe new financial allegations swirling around disgraced TD, Michael Lowry.

The Taoiseach’s decision to share a Wall Street platform with businessman Denis O’Brien has done Ireland’s reputation “no favours”, an anti-corruption campaign group has said.

Links have emerged between Michael Lowry’s “worthless” development land in Wigan and three English property deals probed by the Moriarty Tribunal.

A Supreme Court judge has said it will be a “disgrace to the nation and the State” if it is proven that there was corruption at the highest level of Government in the awarding of a mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone.

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.

Billionaire media mogul Denis O’Brien will not be investigated for excessive influence over his radio and newspaper empire.

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

The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on appeals by two unsuccessful bidders for the State’s second mobile phone licence aimed at allowing them proceed with actions challenging the manner in which the licence was allocated in 1995 to Esat Digifone.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government would consider “cross-ownership” of the media after an escalation in the battle for control of Independent News and Media (INM).

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has defended his deputy leader Joan Burton’s encounter with media tycoon Denis O’Brien and suggested public representatives could not go around “covered in a cloak” when meeting people.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has again expressed his frustration at the length of time a fraud investigation is taking into rogue lender Anglo Irish Bank.

It would be better if Environment Minister Phil Hogan had not met Michael Lowry in the wake of the Moriarty tribunal, a Cabinet colleague said today.

Even allowing for the drawn-out choreography of politics, the reluctance of Health Minster James Reilly, while speaking on RTÉ yesterday, to be even-handed about those indicted by the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals was as disheartening as it was tragic.

The corruption exposed by the Mahon Tribunal was “overwhelmingly a Fianna Fáil problem”, according to the Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore.

Kieran O’Leary talks Kerry, Crokes, tactics and travelling with Fintan O’Toole

Independent TD for North Tipperary Michael Lowry has lost his High Court bid to secure summary disposal of a defamation case brought over comments by journalist Sam Smyth.

Independent TD for North Tipperary Michael Lowry has appealed to the High Court for a summary ruling in a defamation case over comments by journalist Sam Smyth which, the TD claims, wrongly meant he was a thief.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has welcomed the decision of the Circuit Court to grant journalist and broadcaster Sam Smyth legal costs against Deputy Michael Lowry following Smyth's successful defence of a defamation action against him by the Co Tipperary TD.

OUR inescapable economic crisis made its usual, disheartening contribution to the headlines yesterday.

DISGRACED ex-minister, Micheal Lowry, will attempt to defend his actions in the awarding of a state mobile phone licence with a Dáil statement on the Moriarty Tribunal.

JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter could not have chosen a better week to announce that our legislation designed to prosecute white-collar crime will be strengthened.

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said today that Michael Lowry should resign in the wake of yesterday's final report of the Moriarty Tribunal.

Businessman Denis O'Brien has commenced a challenge against limitations imposed by the Moriarty tribunal on his legal team's ability to question expert witness Professor Michael Andersen.

THE Moriarty tribunal was yesterday claimed to have given its legal team “a cloak of protection.”

A DANISH consultant, who had previously declined to appear as a witness, is set to give key evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal today.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said today that it is the intention of the Chair of the Moriarty Tribunal to complete the inquiry by the end of the year.

THE Dáil spending watchdog committee is to quiz state lawyers about reducing legal costs as well as examine attempts to cut bills for tribunals.

The long-awaited report from the Moriarty Tribunal is facing further delays.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen indulged in the most fanciful wishful thinking when he ruled out an immediate inquiry into the events and policies, the Galway-tent pressing of the flesh and the shoddy politics and ineffective regulation that colluded to destroy our economy and banks.

LAWYERS for the Moriarty tribunal have claimed that attempts were made to “wholly mislead” the inquiry about the role of former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry in a number of property deals in Britain which have links to millionaire businessman, Denis O’Brien.

TAXPAYERS face having to fork out hundreds of millions of euro in compensation after billionaire Denis O’Brien yesterday claimed a tribunal will rule he was awarded a mobile phone contract “illegally”.

CRIMINAL activities, whether committed by common criminals or political ones, should be investigated by the gardaí.

THE Irish tribunal system has been described as the “greatest gravy train in Irish history” after it was revealed that two individual barristers were paid over €8.5 million each out of a total €85m paid over to lawyers.

THE country’s top civil servants have been criticised for failed attempts to tackle a “golden circle” of tribunal lawyers who made millions in legal fees.

In the past 12 years, 19 judicial tribunals were established. Their extravagant costs and seemingly interminable legal wrangling have seriously damaged the public standing of the legal profession.

The Government backed down three times on repeated attempts to cut €2,250-a-day fees of tribunal barristers after threats they would walk away from the inquiries, it emerged today.

The Morris Tribunal is set to cost the Irish taxpayer €70m.

ONCE again the trials of the tribunals have proved an election asset for those who have been dragged through it but still want to further their political careers.

A study by the State's spending watchdog has found that the Mahon, Moriarty and Morris tribunals are likely to cost a total of up to €366m.

A REPORT by the state spending watchdog is expected to show the final bill for the cost of the three tribunals of inquiry will be far less than the €1 billion-plus previously predicted.

THE long-running Moriarty tribunal that completed its public hearings last May has threatened injunctions against at least two Irish newspapers in relation to its conclusions.