Funding arrangement in legal claim barred as ancient law remains

An ancient law that was dismissed as obsolete in Britain in 1967 was retained by the Irish Government in 2007 and bars a funding arrangement in a legal claim against Denis O’Brien, Michael Lowry and the State, the High Court heard yesterday.

Justice Aileen Donnelly has been asked to decide whether an English company called Harbour Litigation Funding is entitled to fund another company called Persona Digital Telephony and Sigma Wireless Networks in its claim in the Irish courts. Harbour will take part of the proceeds if Persona’s litigation is successful.

Persona claims that Businessman Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone consortium won a competition for a mobile phone licence in 1996 by bribing the then minister for communications Michael Lowry — which is denied. Persona was the runner-up in the licence competition.