O'Brien to take stand at Moriarty Tribunal

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien is due to take the stand at the Moriarty Tribunal this morning.

Yesterday, the inquiry heard that Mr O'Brien may have made two £100,000 payments, one to former Communications Minister Michael Lowry and another to an un-named person.

Mr Lowry denies receiving any such payment and Mr O'Brien also denies giving it to him. Former Esat chief executive Barry Moloney yesterday said that Mr O'Brien told him in 1996 that "he had to make these payments".

The controversial $50,000 dollar donation by Telenor to Fine Gael is also likely to be raised during today's proceedings.