No evidence of wrongdoing by Lowry, tribunal told

ENTREPRENEUR Denis O’Brien, who runs a business empire from his Algarve base in Portugal, is due to return to Dublin Castle next Tuesday to give further evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal about the controversial award of the GSM2 licence to Esat Digifone.

Mr O'Brien headed the Irish/Norwegian consortium that won the licence competition from five other bidders in 1995 and later successfully negotiated the licence terms. As Minister for Communications, Michael Lowry awarded the licence on May 16, 1996.

On his seventh and final day in the witness box, former Digifone solicitor Owen O'Connell told the tribunal yesterday he was in no position to tender evidence of any improper interference or wrongdoing by Mr Lowry during the GSM2 licence process.