Lowry’s warning not strange, says official
The warning was contained in a letter sent by the minister to the ESB chairman at a time when the electricity firm was in discussions with ESAT on the issue and before the mobile phone company was confirmed as the country’s second licence holder.
ESB formed part of a rival consortium for the licence and remained contenders if ESAT’s bid, the preferred one, collapsed. Martin Brennan, a civil servant centrally involved in the award process, told the Moriarty Tribunal there was nothing exceptional in Mr Lowry writing to state companies urging maximum co-operation and warning of government intervention if this was not done voluntarily.
