Tribunal told of attempts to ‘wholly mislead’

LAWYERS for the Moriarty tribunal have claimed that attempts were made to “wholly mislead” the inquiry about the role of former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry in a number of property deals in Britain which have links to millionaire businessman, Denis O’Brien.

The tribunal heard evidence yesterday that the Tipperary North TD was promised a share of the profits by another businessman, Kevin Phelan, who had arranged the purchase by Mr O’Brien of Doncaster Rovers football club in 1998. Both Mr Lowry and Mr O’Brien have repeatedly denied that the politician had any role in the deal.

Tribunal barrister John Coughlan SC said yesterday that documents in a file of a solicitor who had acted in the various land deals were either removed or altered to conceal the true nature of Mr Lowry’s role in them.