O’Brien’s rare whiskey unacceptable
Martin Brennan, assistant secretary in the Department of Communications, said the whiskey arrived days after the win by the O’Brien-led Esat Digifone consortium in late 1995.
The six bottles of Midleton Very Rare, valued at £75 per bottle, were addressed to named individuals from the project team, he said: “I made contact with Denis O’Brien to ensure they were returned to him. He protested that they were no more than a private token of appreciation, but I reminded him that we still had months of licence negotiations to complete. They were sent back with the full support of the name recipients.”
Tribunal lawyers had asked the civil servant to list any social contacts he might have had with Esat connections down the years.
After the press conference by Communications Minister Michael Lowery and Mr O’Brien after the licence win, Mr Brennan said he was among a small group that adjourned to a neighbouring hostelry for about an hour.
Mr Brennan said he attended as a sponsor's guest an Esat Digifone-sponsored race meeting at Leopardstown on October 13, 1997. He told the tribunal: “I have no recollection of which Esat Digifone personnel I met on that occasion but I am reasonably sure that Barry Maloney (a former chief executive) was in attendance.”
Earlier, Mr Brennan described how he prepared an answer to a Dail question for Mr Lowry regarding meetings the former minister had with competitors for the second GSM licence. The answer was never given.
The question, put down by Fianna Fail’s Willie O’ Dea on November 22, 1995, asked how many times the minister had met principals or representatives of those bidding for the licence.
In reply, Mr Lowry said he had not interfered in the selection process but had brief meetings with representatives of different consortia, but these were in the nature of courtesy calls.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
