Lowry mulls taking case to European court

DISGRACED deputy Michael Lowry brushed off the humiliation of a Dáil censure motion, insisting he may take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr Lowry’s refusal to quit as a TD, despite the symbolic all-party bid to oust him, followed another day of angry political fallout from the damning findings of the Moriarty Tribunal.

Claiming he was a victim of a “scandal of epic proportions”, Mr Lowry insisted his conscience is “clear” and he will consider going to the human rights court.

As Dáil exchanges over the affair became increasingly bitter in tone, Taoiseach Enda Kenny responded to opposition accusations over donations to Fine Gael from the winners of the lucrative 1995 mobile phone licence by saying his party never relied on “tents or balaclavas” for fundraising activities — a clear dig at Fianna Fáil’s notorious Galway Races tent and Sinn Féin’s links to the IRA.

The Taoiseach denied accusations from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin that he was “ambivalent” towards the tribunal findings.

Mr Kenny insisted he could not say if he accepted the conclusions of the report for legal reasons and told Mr Martin his “arrogance knew no bounds”.

“You sat on these benches, you travelled the world on behalf of the people of this country, simply because Deputy Lowry and others had secret deals with you that you refused to publish,” he said, referring to the last government’s alliance with Mr Lowry.

In a heated contribution, Environment Minister Phil Hogan denied he had been involved in the awarding of the licence and challenged Fianna Fáil deputies to repeat accusations against him outside of Dáil privilege.

Mr Kenny confirmed that members of one of the consortia bidding for the second mobile phone licence attended a fundraiser he hosted just days before the competition was decided.

But the Taoiseach insisted the consortium members did not personally donate to the fundraiser or have any discussions with him in relation to the licence.

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte insisted the Moriarty Tribunal report attached no blame to the Government of the time, and that the then Cabinet could not have over-ruled the decision to award the licence to the Esat bidder.

Labour TD Tommy Broughan broke Government ranks to brand Fine Gael’s concealment of the $50,000 donation from Telenor as “disgraceful”.

The all-party censure motion, which is set to be passed without debate today, calls on Mr Lowry to resign voluntarily “on foot of his unacceptable behaviour disclosed in the Moriarty Tribunal report”.