Solicitor who refused to give evidence appears at hearing

AN English solicitor who had previously refused to give evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal made a surprise appearance before a hastily convened sitting of the inquiry at Dublin Castle yesterday.

Christopher Vaughan was issued with a summons a short time earlier which required him to appear forthwith before the hearing.

While the tribunal did not proceed with taking any evidence from Mr Vaughan yesterday, it remains unclear if he will return to Ireland to appear as a witness on some date in the future.

The tribunal has repeatedly requested Mr Vaughan over the past few years to give evidence about his role in property transactions in England which are being investigated by the inquiry.

It is examining possible business links between former Fine Gael minister, Michael Lowry, and wealthy businessman, Denis O’Brien, as part of its long-running investigation into the awarding of the State’s second mobile phone licence to Mr O’Brien’s ESAT consortium in 1996. Mr Lowry was the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications at the time.

The tribunal is anxious to discover if Mr Lowry had any beneficial interest in Doncaster Rovers Football Club which was acquired by Mr O’Brien in 1998.

Suspicions about Mr Lowry’s possible role in the deal emerged in a 1998 letter from Mr Vaughan, a former secretary of Doncaster Rovers, to Mr Lowry which created the impression that the solicitor believed the Tipperary North TD was involved in the transaction.

In the letter, Mr Vaughan suggested Mr Lowry had “total involvement” in the project. However, Mr Vaughan subsequently wrote to the tribunal to claim that he was mistaken that Mr Lowry had some beneficial interest in the Doncaster Rovers deal.

Tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, was told yesterday that Mr Vaughan was in Dublin for a meeting with legal representatives of Mr O’Brien.

The brief sitting also heard that Mr O’Brien is no longer using William Fry, the firm of solicitors who acted for him since the tribunal was established in 1997.

Mr O’Brien’s new legal representative, solicitor Paul Maher, said he wanted to make it very clear that Mr Vaughan’s attendance had nothing to do with being compelled to appear before the inquiry as he lived outside the jurisdiction.

Mr Maher said the tribunal had been notified by Mr O’Brien’s representatives last Wednesday that Mr Vaughan would be in Dublin to help with the preparation of detailed replies to the provisional findings of the tribunal. The solicitor said Mr O’Brien was also trying to find out if Mr Vaughan might now be willing to give evidence to the inquiry.

Jerry Healy SC, counsel for the tribunal, noted that there was no suggestion that Mr O’Brien had placed any impediment on Mr Vaughan in relation to his willingness to appear as a witness at Dublin Castle.

Mr Maher said that there was no duty nor obligation nor even legal proceedings which could compel Mr Vaughan to give evidence as he was living outside the jurisdiction.

The tribunal is awaiting responses from affected parties to its draft findings ahead of its final report which is expected to be published before the end of the year.