O'Brien says Telenor forced $50,000 Fine Gael donation

Millionaire businessman, Denis O'Brien said his former colleagues at the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor made Esat pay a $50,000 donation to Fine Gael.

He told the Moriarty Tribunal that this happened during share hold negotiations between the two companies.

The donation came about by way of a fund raising dinner in New York in 1995. Dennis O'Brien claims that Telenor made the donation.

He said it would have been inappropriate for him to attend the dinner given that he had just won the mobile phone licence but during the negotiations between Esat Digifone and Telenor to copper fasten the company's share hold agreement.

He says Telenor made Esat pick up the bill. It was agreed as part of a broader packet he says, "it way sound simplistic but we were working in a very pressurised environment.

In response, tribunal lawyers warned Mr O'Brien to be careful about his use of words. " You are not in a board meeting now" they said, "You are giving sworn evidence."