Esat Telecom didn’t have money to pay share of licence fee, inquiry told

A COMPANY headed by multi-millionaire businessman Denis O’Brien, who netted over £230m following the sale of the State’s second mobile phone company, did not even have enough cash to pay its share of the licence fee, the Moriarty Tribunal was told yesterday.

Esat Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mr O’Brien’s Communicorp, was bailed out to the tune of £6m by its two partners on the same day the licence was handed over to the umbrella company, Esat Digifone, papers read out at the tribunal reveal.

The inquiry is to investigate why the licence was handed over, on May 16, 1996, when 40% shareholders Esat Telecom did not have the financing and whether this decision was influenced by Communications Minister Michael Lowry or others.