O'Brien takes stand at Moriarty

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien has taken the stand at the Moriarty Tribunal without any reference being made to his absence in previous weeks.

Tribunal lawyer John Coughlan continued to question Mr O'Brien about a jog he had with then Esat Chief Executive Officer Barry Maloney in the Dublin hills in 1996.

Mr O'Brien said he had been having difficulty persuading Mr Maloney to pay bonuses to consultants who had helped Esat win the mobile phone licence.

He said that Mr Maloney was "unlikely to pay unless you were suffering".

Mr O'Brien added that he said to Mr Maloney: "If you think you have problems, I've just paid out £200,000" (to such consultants).