Dukes not told Desmond had held 25% stake in Digifone

SENIOR civil servants didn’t tell former Communications Minister Alan Dukes that financier Dermot Desmond had held a 25% share in the consortium that won the country’s second mobile telephone licence, the Moriarty Tribunal heard yesterday.

Counsel also suggested a letter drafted for Mr Dukes and sent to former Dáil Deputy Robert Molloy in early December 1996 was calculated to evade, obscure or suppress the true facts surrounding the consortium’s ownership.

At the time the letter was written, Mr Dukes would have been hung out to dry if anyone in public life or the media had been aware of the true facts, tribunal lawyer Jerry Healy SC suggested to department assistant secretary Martin Brennan.

Had Mr Molloy got the true information, said counsel, Mr Dukes would have been in a position where he would have had to resign.

The letter said that at the time of licensing, Esat Digifone had placed 20% with Mr Desmond, but it didn’t seek to get rid of any confusion surrounding the ownership of the consortium, suggested Mr Healy.

It didn’t state that Mr Desmond had been a 25% shareholder until days before the licence was granted.

Asked to explain whether Mr Dukes was fully briefed, Mr Brennan said he could not recall if he told Mr Dukes that Mr Desmond had held a 25% stake.