Lowry phonecall source declared bankrupt

The land agent who released a secretly recorded conversation he had with Independent TD Michael Lowry has been declared a bankrupt in the North.

Kevin Phelan, of Gillygooly Rd, Omagh, was listed in the bankruptcy notice as a publican with a second address at Hertford St, Mayfair, London.

The notice was published yesterday after an order was issued last week. A petition to have him declared a bankrupt was made in Nov 2011.

Mr Phelan scouted for property prospects in England for Mr Lowry and businessman Denis O’Brien in the late 1990s.

Last month, he released a recording of a conversation he had with Mr Lowry in 2004. He later told the Sunday Independent he decided to release the tape because of comments Mr Lowry had made late last year.

During the taped phone-call, Mr Lowry begged Mr Phelan not to reveal a transaction that occurred between the pair two years earlier.

In the late 1990s, Mr Phelan, originally from Co Laois, sourced properties for Mr Lowry in Wigan, Mansfield, and Cheadle. He found properties for Mr O’Brien in Luton and Doncaster.

In 2002, he was forced into mediation talks with both men after disputes over fees he was owed.

The Moriarty Tribunal found Mr Phelan accepted two payments linked to the English property deals.

The secretly recorded conversation between Mr Phelan and Mr Lowry revealed a third payment.

This was for £248,000 and was made by Mr Lowry through his Tipperary refrigeration company.

Last year, Mr Phelan and Paula Phelan, of the same address, were each fined £5,000 (€5,928) after they pleaded guilty for failing to comply with a enforcement order from the planning authority.

This related to the construction of a wall around their property.