Defiant ex-minister to face down Garda probe

A DEFIANT Michael Lowry vowed to face down any Garda investigation into his alleged interference with the Esat mobile phone licence and also revealed he would battle to recoup his huge legal bills.

The former communications minister at the centre of the damning Moriarty Tribunal report will today return to the Dáil where he intends to defend his name. He dismissed calls for his resignation.

But as the fallout continues over the series of critical findings linking the Tipperary North TD to payments from businessman Denis O’Brien, Mr Lowry said he was not embarrassed. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he said: “Any tribunal process is grossly unfair, the procedures involved in it, the intrusiveness of it, the length of them. I don’t believe anyone can get justice after 14 years, irrespective of how independent a chairman of a tribunal is.