O'Brien 'felt Maloney was blackmailing him'

The Moriarty Tribunal has heard that ex-Esat boss Denis O'Brien felt he was being blackmailed by his former friend, Barry Maloney.

The allegation arose in 1996, when Mr Maloney resigned as chief executive of Esat Digifone and then returned following an offer of £250,000 for 60 days work.

Mr Maloney quit because he wanted separate public relations and legal representatives for the Esat Digifone, and also wanted Digifone to operate independently of Esat Telecom upon the latter's launch on the market.

After his resignation, he was visited by financier Dermot Desmond who offered him the money to return and oversee the launch of the Digifone network.

Mr Maloney told Mr Desmond he did not want the money, but sought changes to his stock options.

This move was viewed by Mr O'Brien as blackmail.